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New England. January

California. January.

THE

California Horticulturist

•And

nry. 189&

FLORAL MAGAZINE.

VOLUME VI. -1876.

PUBLISHED BY JOHN H. CARMANY & CO.

No. 409 Washington Street, opposite the Post- Office,
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

New England in January January Number.

California in January January Number.

Weigelia Rosea — Moss Rose — Persian

Yellow Rose February Number.

California Sporting and Harvest Scene . .March. Number.

California Cam|3ing-out Scene March Number.

Big Tree of California April Number.

Mt. Tamalpais, Marin Co., Cal May Number.

Mountain Scene in California May Number.

River-bed Mining in California June Number.

Gladiolus — Tritoma Uvaria — Tomatoes. . .July Number.

Mission of San Luis Obispo August Number .

Chinese Primrose September Number.

Fuchsia (Tinted Venus) October Number.

Gladiolus November Number .

Eucalyptus Globulus December Number.

JANUARY,

Native Tuberous-rooted Caraway 9

Clouds — Rain 10

Salmon 12

Is Boiler-water Injurious to Plants ? 13

The Bulb Season 25

Fruit Cultivation, and Report on the Fruit and Vege-
table Market 34

Selected Articles 14 — 31

Editorial Portfolio 32—37

Gleanings 37—40

FEBRUARY.

A Severe Winter Season 41

Fish Life— Natural Scenery in Angling a Help to the

Love of Horticulture 42

Earthquakes 45

History and Culture of Alfalfa 47

Fruit Cultivation, and Report on the Fruit and Vege-
table Market 60

Selected Articles 48 — 57

Editorial Portfolio 58—60

Gleanings .64—72

MARCH.

Yucca and Aloe Lilies 73

Trees Remarkable for their Gigantic Growth and

Great Age 74

The Secrets of Angling 77

Winds— Storms— Weather 79

Fruit Cultivation, and Report on the Fruit and Vege-
table Market 97

Selected Articles t 80—92

Editorial Portfolio 93—99

Gleanings 100—104

APRIL.

Aloe Plants (Agaves) 105 I Report on the Fruit and Vegetable Market 130

Commencement of the World's Vegetation 106 Selected Articles 110—126

The Mock Weeping Willow 108 Editorial Portfolio 126—129

Fly Fishing and Throwing the Fly 108 | Gleanings 134—136

IV

CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

MAY.

Bedding Plants 137

Benefits of Forests, Woods, and Belts of Trees in
California 138

Natural and Artificial Distribution of Trees and
Plants 140

The Bod 142

Beport on the Bruit and Vegetable Market 158

Selected Articles 144 — 155

Editorial Portfolio 156—158

Gleanings 161—168

JUNE.

Bedding Plants 169

Man's Agency on the Earth for Good and for Evil. . . 170

California Fruit Beport for 1875 173

Beport on the Fruit and Vegetable Market 192

Selected Articles 174—182

Bod and Gun 183—189

Editorial Portfolio 189—191

Gleanings 194-200

JULY.

The Study of Natural History 201 I Selected Articles 209—210

Springs 203 1 Bod and Gun 216—219

Flora of Japan 204 Editorial Portfolio 220—224

Beport of the Fruit and Vegetable Market 225 | Gleanings 228—232

AUGUST.

Flora of Japan 233

The Transformation of Insects 234

Vases and Vase Plants 236

Fruit Cultivation, and Beport on the Fruit and Veg-
etable Market 257

Flower Gardening : 238

Bod and Gun 239—245

Selected Articles 245—254

Editorial Portfolio 255-260

Gleanings 261—264

SEPTEMBER.

Winter Flowering Plants 265

The Double-flowering Peach and its Treatment 266

Birds of New South Wales 267

About the "Weather 270

Practical Use of Leaves 271

Ascent of Grey's Peak in Colorado 288

Fruit Cultivation, and Beport on the Fruit and Veg-
etable Market 290

Bod and Gun 273—279

Selected Articles 279—287

Editorial Portfolio 289

Gleanings 293—296

OCTOBER.

Gardening in the East Indies, and Botany back of

Madras 297

Distribution of Plants in the "World 299

Fruit Cultivation, and Beport on the Fruit and Veg-
etable Market 325

Variegated Stove Plants 300

Bod and Gun 302—308

Correspondence ,308—309

Selected Articles 311—317

Editorial Portfolio 318—328

NOVEMBER.

Chinese Chrysanthemum 329

Watering— The Cactus 330

The Violet and its Cultivation 332

Fruit Cultivation, and Beport on the Fruit and Veg-
etable Market 355

Bod and Gun 334—336

Selected Articles 338—348

Editorial Portfolio 350—353

Gleanings 357—360

Meteorological Becord 360

DECEMBER.

Fossil Botany 361

The Stock 363

Insect Bavages 364

Leaf Curl in Peach Trees 365

Love of Plants and Flowers in our Midst 366

Beport on Fruit and Vegetable Market 384

Bod and Gun 368—372

Selected Articles 375 -380

Editorial Portfolio 381—387

Gleanings 388—392

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI. SAN FRANCISCO, JANUARY, 1876. No. 1.

NATIVE TUBEROUS-BOOTED CARAWAY.

BY DK. A. KELLOGG.

Of these we have in California two
species deemed worthy of special notice :

Garicm Gairdneri is the most impor-
tant, because it promises most both to
the gardener and the florist. A partic-
ular description is needless, as in gener-
al appearance, and indeed in every way,
it is the exact representative congener of
the European Chervil on the Pacific
Coast. The flowers are the most per-
fect chaste white, and for an umbel the
neatest beauty we ever saw. The only
merit that saves it from being shoveled
like a Potato is its small size. "We have
had it cultivated occasionally, but nev-
er with sufficient persistence and care
as to do anything like justice to it, nor
are our opportunities for the future
likely to prove more promising. For
this reason mainly we invite attention
to it, in hopes that those who can may
be induced to prove for themselves its
value — not for commercial export, for
it is useless to suggest, much less urge,
this upon the mere dollar-and-cent cul-
tivator, as we have done for a quarter
of a century. What is desirable is
simply to so establish its introduction

Vol. VI.— 2.

that the fancy gardener and amateur
florist may have a new dish of rare deli-
cacy for the rural repast, and another
charm for the flower-vase. Nothing of
the kind, we feel sure, can excel it. The
roots, as observed, are small, seldom
over half an inch in diameter by two or
three inches long, pure white, with a
creamy cuticle. Eaten raw as they are
dug, they are delicious; but their ex-
quisite sweetness and flavor is greatly
improved if kept until about half-dried.
There is not the least doubt that with
skill in choice of suitable conditions,
soil, etc., from 200 to 300 bushels to
the acre could be raised. We have
eaten them in soups and various ways,
and have often sent the seeds abroad,
but their vitality soon perishes, unless
great care is bestowed in packing, as
well as speed in transit. It is a hardy
plant, suited to cold climates and damp
well-drained rocky, gravelly, or mixed
clayey loams, especially "dry runs."

Basket Plants. — These plants often
suffer from too much or too little water.
If from too little the leaves curl or fall.
If too much they get yellow and drop
off. As a rule a basket should be soak-
about once a week.

10

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

CLOUDS— KAIN.

BY NATUBALIST.

The horticulturist has often reason to
be interested, if not anxious, about the
state of the weather. The florist es-
pecially dislikes either too much rain
or too long a drought. The health and
good condition of plants depend much
upon the state of the weather and at-
mosphere. The meteorological condi-
tions of California are quite peculiar as
compared with the rest of the States
and Territories. The near vicinity of a
vast ocean, with several mountain tiers
running up and down at different dis-
tances on our slope, exercise the great-
est influence on our climate. We may
describe the clouds generally which
visit us, as jyell as other portions of the
globe, as visible vapor suspended in
the air at some distance from the level
parts of the earth. Possessing the
shifting, formless, shadowy character
of vapor, becoming visible or remaining
invisible, according to minute changes
of temperature in different parts of the
sky, they combine outlines with pecul-
iar striking colors and other character-
istics, with a capacity for change that
is almost unlimited.

Clouds carry water from the ocean to
the mountain tops, they signal the oc-
casions on which the electric forces bal-
ance themselves, they cause important
modifications of light and heat on the
earth, they are connected with the pro-
duction of frost, they add to the pictur-
esque effects which the landscape paint-
er and the admirer of nature love to
study, and they offer to the poet in-
numerable suggestions and similitudes.
"What, then, is a cloud ? If you go into
a laundry on a washing day, you prob-
ably find the whole of the upper part
of the room full of steam. That steam

is cloud. It can't get away — being
confined to the room. If it could get
away it would be taken up, absorbed by
the drier air without, and be apparent-
ently dissipated, just as a sponge takes
up a certain quantity of moisture.
When your kettle " steams" it makes a
cloud. Now, the air is generally in a
state that will enable it to take up a
certain quantity of moisture, more or
less, according to its temperature and
other conditions; but as aqueous or
watery vapor in the air is invisible un-
der ordinary circumstances, and when
condensed by sufficient cold becomes
rain, there must be intermediate states
between the 'two, and these intermedi-
ate states are the varying conditions of
clouds, which we see above our heads in
every condition and shape. Fog and
the cloudiness in a room full of steam
are only similar varieties of watery va-
por. Those who have ascended high
mountains and passed through clouds,
as they must do, have found that the
clouds, when they were in them, were
just like fog, that they got above and
completely out of them, and that the
chilly air seemed to keep vapor in a vis-
ible state, when any was present. Thus,
the vapors of the eai'th and sea, con-
densed by cold, and rising in the at-
mosphere to a region of air lighter than
themselves, form clouds or layers of
visible vapors. Clouds are generally
moved by the wind, and. sometimes by
electric action. They may be often
seen meeting from opposite directions,
and then, after discharging their oppo-
site electricities into each other, vanish-
ing altogether. The most cloudy coun-
tries are those where the winds are
most variable, as Britain; the least
cloudy countries are where the winds
are least variable, as Egypt, and, in a
less degree, California.

In the higher regions of the atmos-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

11

phere, where the clouds are chiefly
formed at the meeting of two currents
of different water capacity, sets of small
clouds are produced, all nearly of the
same form, as all are due precisely to
the same cause. Thus we have the
mare's-tail and mackerel skies, and oth-
er kinds, where numerous light fleecy
clouds appear at a great elevation.
These are called cirrus clouds, from the
peculiar curl they often present. They
present very varied and singular ap-
pearances. They are probably never
less than three miles from the earth,
and sometimes much more. Their col-
or is generally the purest white before
the sun sets, contrasting finely with the
rich full blue of a clear sky, and at sun-
set or sunrise they are often of t a lovely
light vivid crimson, sometimes with the
richest blue colored sky above, and a
fine emerald below them. Just such a
sunrise I observed the other morning
from Oakland wharf, whither I had
gone thus early to angle for the young
salmon, which are now coming into our
bay from their ocean haunts and feed-
ing-grounds, to spawn in some of the
rivers connected with our harbor.
When these clouds (the cirrus) are
more dense, occurring at somewhat
lower levels, and accumulating in large
quantity, but still retaining their band-
ed appearance, they pass into another
kind, called cirro-stratus, which resem-
ble loose masses of carded cotton, and
often pass rapidly into rain -clouds.
Cirrus clouds are often seen near the
horizon at sunset and sunrise, but it
is on a fine summer's evening in the
East, and during our winter season in
California, when the loftiest vapors be-
come tinted with the rich warm glow of
the setting sun, that they are most
beautiful. The clouds called cumulus
differ from those just described in many
essential characteristics. They appear

to be formed near the earth, in our
rainy season, and ascend gradually
during the day. Such clouds are not
often picturesque, but they not unfre-
quently present very grotesque and
varied forms, changing with the most
remarkable rapidity, melting away in a
singular manner. When large, they
cover the heavens, and altogether ob-
scure the sun, being in this state en-
tirely without form and beauty; but
whenever they are broken up, even the
heaviest clouds are capable of present-
ing wonderful variety, and the most ex-
quisite softness of penciling. Like the
cirrus, the cumulus is frequently in lay-
ers or strata, and is then called cumulo-
stratus. The true rain cloud (nimbus) is
limited to a moderate distance from the
earth, probably not extending to more
than 4,000 to 5,000feet. When these rain
clouds appear a little above the hori-
zon, fleecy, or like the rolls of smoke,
rain is almost sure to follow the night
after or the next day. We observed
this before our last rain storm. These
clouds are admirable studies for the
artist, as well as strikingly adapted to
excite the imagination of the true lover
of nature, especially after they break
upon the rain ceasing, and they gather
up into white mountains, with the blue
sky in patches between them. The
colors and shadows of clouds are not
less varied and beautiful than their
forms. When the sun is near the ho-
rizon, and its light shines through a
considerable thickness of vapor, the
color transmitted is always red, an ex-
cess of the yellow and blue rays being
absorbed. Close to the western horizon
however, when the sun is about to set,
and the clouds are not too thickly con-
gregated, we find also every conceivable
variety of yellow, passing from the pal-
est and purest tint to the deepest and
richest admixtures of yellow with red.

12

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Blue is a color rarely found in clouds,
never by itself as a pure color, and
rarely in mixture either with yellow as
any shade of green, or with red as in
shades of violet and purple. The lat-
ter is, indeed, the most frequent . of
such admixtures; but it is generally to
be accounted for without ever being
actually obliged to admit it as a posi-
tive tint belonging to the cloud itself.
Green clouds and a green tint of the
sky are not, however, extremely rare.
Our sunrises and sunsets certainly
equal, if they do not surpass, the Ital-
ian so much praised by travelers there.
Our tints of landscape and sky are cer-
tainly very fine and delightful to the
eye, and they present themselves chiefly
in our winter and spring months.

SALMON.

BY E. J. HOOPEB.

The plea, or the excuse, for intro-
ducing this noble animal or king of all
fishes in the Horticulturist, or among
the beautiful and interesting produc-
tions of nature in the vegetable world,
is the same which has always prefaced
our notices of angling and the inhabi-
tants of the waters; namely, their con-
nection with trees, bushes, flowers,
birds, insects, and other pleasing and
valuable objects of knowledge which
ever surround the angler while pursu-
ing his useful, amusing, and healthy
art. For sport there is no fish equal to
the monarch of the rivers and the lakes,
and there are some great and eminent
anglers who will not waste time on any
fish less noble. Even the game and ac-
tive trout, and the hardly less nimble
bass, or powerful muscalonge or pike,
will hardly ever tempt them to stray
away from their lordly and-swiftly rush-
ing favorite. A fly-fisherman, with

even a moderate-sized fish of the true
salmon tribe at the end of his line, has
no sinecure to effect his secure capture
or landing, although he would be very
unwilling to permit his labor to be per-
formed by anyone for him. There have
been instances of very large salmon be-
ing played for four or five hours, but
we have never seen in such instances
the angler, notwithstanding great fa-
tigue, willing to consign his rod to a
deputy. It is always rather a thrilling
moment to find that, for the first time,
one has hooked a good-sized salmon,
and the event is apt to produce a nerv-
ousness and excitement that do not tend
to the speedy landing of the fish. The
first idea, naturally enough for a nov-
ice, is ta wish to haul our scaly friend
out of the water by sheer force, so
much does he covet, at the first thought,
possession of his victim; but this mode
of action has of course to be speedily
abandoned, for the fish, always making
an astonishing dash, rushes away either
up or down the stream in gallant style,
taking out with it no end of line. Then
when once it obtains a bite of its bridle,
away it goes sulking into some great
depths or rocky hiding places. In a
brief time it comes out again with re-
newed vigor, determined, as it would
seem, to try your mettle, and it dashes
about till you become so fatigued as al-
most not to care whether you land him
or not. It is impossible to say how long
an angler may have to ' 'play" a salmon
or a large grilse, but if it sinks itself to
the bottom of a deep pool it may be a
business of hours to get it safe into the
landing-net, or for the gaff (we prefer
the latter, because the hooks often be-
come entangled in the meshes of the
net), if the fish be not altogether lost,
as in its exertions to escape it may so
chafe the line as to cause it to snap and
and thus regain its liberty; and during

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

13

the progress of the battle, the angler,
if fishing from the bank, has most like-
ly to wade, and even sometimes to be
pulled once or twice into a rather deep
stream, so that he comes in for a
thorough drenching, and may, as many
have to do, go home after a hard day's
work without being rewarded by the
capture of a single fish.

There is abundance of good salmon
angling with spoon-trolling, and in the
spring and part of the summer with the
fly, to be had in the northern rivers of
this State and in Oregon, where board
and lodging can be obtained at prices
suited to all pockets; and there is noth-
ing better either for health or recrea-
tion than a few days on a salmon stream.
The plan which every angler ought to
adopt on going to a strange water is to
consult with some shrewd natives of the
place or some experienced anglers, who
will very likely be able to show him all
the best places and pools, and aid him
with their advice as to what baits or
flies he ojightto use, and give him many
useful hints on other points as well.
In California there is very little stop-
page of the sport of some kinds of fish-
ing during the whole year. It is, speak-
ing now of angling generally, in fact
a recreation that can be made here to
suit all classes, from the boy, with his
hand-line, to catch tomcods and shiners
from the wharves, to the gentleman
with his well-mounted rod and elabo-
rate tackle, who hies away to the north
in search of salmon that weigh from
twenty to thirty pounds, or trout from
half a pound to three or four, and re-
quire several days to stay and capture.
Even the weather should never stop an
enthusiastic angler, but on very bad
days in our spring season, when it is
not possible to go out of doors, there is
the study of the fish, and their natural
and economic history, which ought to

be interesting to all who use the angle,
and to the majority of mankind besides.
And there is spread around the angler
the interesting and instructive book of
nature, botany and other sciences, to
which we have often referred in these
piscatorial papers, inviting him to the
perusal. He can see the mild seal of Cali-
fornia winter opened, and observe the
balmy spring put forth its vernal power;
note the turbid streams of winter as
they are slackening their volumes of
water; see the swelling buds and the
bursting leaves; admire the wild flowers
grow into blossom almost as he looks
on them; hear the sweet notes of the
mocking-bird, and the surrounding carol
of the noiser birds; watch the sportive
lamb or the timid rabbit; and chronicle
the ever-changing seasons as they roll
away on their everlasting journey of
progress.

IS BOILER -WATER INJURIOUS TO

PLANTS ?

BY DR. A. KELLOGG.

In The Garden of London, England,
Nov.' 27th, .Mr. "Wells inquires as above,
and further says: "It smells badly,
and I am afraid injury will arise from
its use. Will some of your readers
kindly inform me, as I am obliged to
use it?" etc.

A few days ago my attention was di-
rected by E. B. Mastick Esq. , to a singu-
lar phenomenon; briefly this: Not long
ago the locomotive ran off the track at
Mastick' s Station, and the boiler was
emptied. The exact area where the fluid
fell is marked by an exceedingly rich
vegetation, rendered more conspicuous
by the poverty of the surrounding sand.
The effect produced in this case is quite
equal to so much guano spread over the
ground.

14

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUEIST.

This is sufficient answer to the ques-
tion; but as a true rationale always adds
force to any fact, and may often lead to
its more general and intelligent appli-
cation to use, it is well to say that
abundant experience proves that where
boiling water has concentrated the sol-
uble vegetable matter, which greatly
abounds in most waters — and also salts,
silicates, lime, magnesia, potassa, phos-
phates, soda, alumina, etc. — a given
quantity of such solution must be far
richer in fertilizing ingredients already
prepared for the food of plants. Of
course, "it smells badly," as most rich
manures do. By no means waste the
boiler-waters, but consider your boilers
fountains of fertility.

"While upon the subject, allow me to
suggest that if gardeners and florists
will select some of their plants most
difficult to bloom — those that may have
proven obdurate for many years, such
as Camellias, Oleanders, or indeed any
— and make a slight trench some feet
(according to size) from them, and fill
this with that same boiler-water boiling
hot, repeating it a few times during the
weeks at the formative and developing
period of blooms, and they will be as-
tonished at their success. In general,
the best mode of irrigating is that
which percolates toward them, carrying
its own and the soil's soluble substances
to the haven of their desire.

PLANTING OKCHAEDS.

Any person who designs planting out
fruit-trees — and all farmers do at some
time or other — will do well to read the
suggestions made by J. J. Thomas in
the Fruit Culturist, just out:

" A few experiments only are needed
to convince anyone of the advantages
of cutting in the shoots. Some years
ago an orchardist carefully transplanted

one hundred and eighty Apple-trees into
good soil. The roots had been cut
rather short in digging. One-half had
their tops shortened back, so as to leave
only one bud of the previous season's
wood; the heads of the other half were
suffered to remain untouched. The
season proved favorable.

" Of the ninety which had their heads
pruned only two died, and nearly all
made fine shoots, many being eighteen
inches long. Of the ninety unpruned
eight died; most of them made but lit-
tle growth, and none more than six
inches. Both the first and second year
the deep green and luxuriant foliage of
the pruned trees afforded a strong con-
trast with the paler and more feeble ap-
pearance of Peach-trees, of large size
three years' growth from the bud. One-
half were headed back; the rest were un-
pruned. The season was rather dry, and
twelve of the thirty-eight unpruned
trees perished; and only one of those
which were headed back. The unprun-
ed which survived lost parts of the whole
of the upper portions of their branches;
the pruned made bushy heads of new
shoots. In another instance, trees of
one year's growth from the bud, trans-
planted in the usual manner unpruned,
were placed side by side with others of
four years' growth, and with trunks an
inch and a half in diameter, the heads
being pruned to one-quarter their size.
The growth of the former was feeble;
the large trees with pruned heads grew
vigorously.

" The degree to which this shorten-
ing should be carried must depend
much on climate. In the cool, moist
atmosphere of England the leaves per-
spire less, and a number may remain
without exhausting the supply from the
roots. In this country perspiration is
more rapid, and fewer leaves can be fed,
until new roots furnish further supplies.

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

15

" Cutting back after the buds have
swollen, or the leaves have expanded,
seriously checks growth, and should
never be performed except on very
small trees, or on such as the Peach,
which quickly reproduce new shoots.

" Trees which quickly reproduce new
shoots, as the Peach, may be more
closely shortened back than others hav-
ing a less productive power, as the Ap-
ple. The Cherry throws out new
growth still more reluctantly, and hence
more care is needed in digging up the
roots entire.

" Before the tree is set in the earth,
all the bruised or wounded parts, where
cut with a spade, should be pared off
smoothly, to prevent decay, and to en-
able them to heal over by granulations
during the growth of the tree. Then
dip them in a bed of mud, which will
coat every part over evenly, and leave
no portion in contact with air, which
accidentally might not be reached -by
the earth in filling the hole. The bed
of mud. is quickly made by pouring
into the hole a pailful of water, and
mixing it with the soil.

" It should not be set deeper than it
stood before removal. When placed in
the unfilled hole, if it is found to be too
deeply sunk, a mound or hillock is to
be made under the centre to raise it suf-
ficiently and the roots separated and ex-
tended to their full length. Pine rich
mould is then to be sprinkled or sifted
over, taking care to fill all the inter-
stices, and using the fingers to spread out
all the fibres during the operation. The
mellow earth should be raised two or
three inches above the surrounding sur-
face, to allow for its subsequent settling.

' ' In nearly all the soils, the use of
water in settling the earth among the
roots will be found eminently serviceable .
Dashing in a few quarts before the Hole
is filled is the more common way; but

an admirable mode is to settle fine earth
as it is constantly sifted in, by a regular
shower from a watering-pot, one man
holding the tree, another filling in the
earth, and the third applying the water.
By this process the roots are not dis-
turbed in their position, and every cav-
ity about them is filled in the most per-
fect manner. The trees will be found
to maintain their position better than
when pulverized earth alone is used."

TEEE AND OTHEK PEONIES.

Peonies, with their crimson, pink,
white and other colored flowers produc-
ed during a greater part of the months
of May and June, were long great fa-
vorites in gardens, although they are
now somewhat neglected, owing prob-
ably to the fact that they are so large
that in small gardens they would occu-
py too much room. There are, how-
ever, generally to be found, even in gar-
dens of limited size, spots so much
shaded that scarcely any flower will
thrive in them. In such places Peonies
would grow luxuriantly; the color of
their blooms would, in many cases, be
even more intense, and they would last
much longer than flowers fully exposed
to the sun. They may, therefore, be
made useful as well as ornamental, even
in small pleasure grounds, although the
proper place for them is undoubtedly
the fronts of large shrubberies, planta-
tions, or by the sides of carriage drives.
Where distant effect is required, no
plants so admirably answer the end, as
their size and brilliancy render them
strikingly visible even at long distances
off. Planted in straight lines on either
side of a grass walk, the effect which
they produce is admirable, especially
in the morning and at or near sunset;
and when planted in masses, as, for in-
stance, in beds in pleasure-grounds,

16

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUKIST.

they are invaluable for lighting up
sombre nooks. Peonies grow best in
light, sandy loam, and need but little
attention — digging around and manur-
ing in the winter, and some care in ty-
ing them up neatly in spring, being all
they require. They may be readily in-
creased, but it is most injurious to di-
vide the roots too often, as, in that case,
the constitution of the plants is weaken-
ed, and they generally take some time
to recover their usual vigor; nor should
they be dug up and removed too fre-
quently, as this checks their growth for
a season at least. Tree Peonies form,
as is well known, robust early spring-
flowering shrubs, varying from two to
four and five feet in height, and bear-
ing blossoms of extraordinary size, bril-
liancy, and beauty. They succeed well
in all ordinary garden soils, exclusive
of peat, unless found upon a deep dry
sub-stratum. Blooming as they do
early in the year, they occasionally re-
quire some slight protection to preserve
the blossom buds from late frosts. I
have seen them used with good effect
on grass plots. They have a fine ap-
pearance in a mixed border of shrubs.
Their blossoms are of various shades of
color, from paper whiteness to the most
brilliant crimson and purple shades,
and the plants are of such free-blooming
habit that they become literally covered
with their immense blooms during the
summer months. They may be trans-
planted either in autumn or in spring
before they make their growth. They
are propagated by root division, by
grafting on the roots of herbaceous va-
rieties, by taking cuttings from the
young shoots in spring and striking
them under glass in a little heat, and
by layering young shoots after ringing
round each bud, so that each bud forms
a plant. Some of the best varieties are
Alba grandiflora, Atro-purpurea, Carnea

plena, Lactea, Lilacina, Ocellala, Pap>a-
veraeea, and the white and red double
forms; Purpurea, Bobert Fortune, Bol-
lissoni, Bosa Mundi, Triomphe de
Grand, Triomphe de Malines, Versicol-
or plena, Violacea purpurea, and Zeno-
bia. — The Garden.

RAISING EAETH ROUND TREE-SHRUBS.

During the last twenty years I have
often met with instances of the mis-
chievous effect of raising the soil round
the trunks of living trees; in some cases,
where only a few inches had been plac-
ed round the collar, the result was as
disastrous as where the trees had been
buried to a greater depth. In making
alterations, sufficient care is not always
exercised in this matter; and as, per-
haps, for a few years no perceptible di-
minution in the vigor of the tree is no-
ticed, the whole thing is forgotten until
the tree becomes sickly, and ultimately
dies, when, perhaps, the result is im-
puted to some other cause. About four
years ago a fine old Walnut-tree, stand-
ing in the grounds here, exhibited symp-
toms— by its annually decreasing growth
and early leaf-fall — of declining health.
On examination, it was found, that dur-
ing some alterations a few years ago
the earth had been raised about eight
inches round the trunk, and the bark
round the collar was in some places de-
cayed, but owing to the sinuosities of
the trunk, the air, perhaps, had not
been so effectually excluded as it would
have been in the case of a younger tree,
and, therefore, the ill effects had been
longer delayed. The earth was at once
removed down to the original level, so
that the tree stood in a kind of basin,
with sloping sides and a diameter of
about ten or eleven feet. I am glad to
say the condition of the tree is fast im-
proving, and. that it will ultimately re-

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

17

cover. Only the other day, I took up a
Sycamore-tree that was past recovery
from the same cause. I have, however,
never met with any ill effects from rais-
ing the soil over the roots of trees, pro-
vided the trunk was not touched by the
new soil; but, in some instances, in-
creased vigor has been imparted to un-
healthy trees by having top dressings
of good fresh soil. Wherever it is ne-
cessary to raise the soil in the neighbor-
hood of large handsome trees, if the
surface is sloped upward from the tree
for three or four feet round the trunk,
no harm will follow, or the earth may
be supported by brick-work a foot or so
from the trunk, and fitted with wooden
gratings round the trunk at the top, for
the purpose of securing a due circula-
tion of air; only the gratings will have
to be inspected occasionally, to see that
the place is clean. — E. Hobday, in Lon-
don Garden.

DEEP PLOWING.

A previously formed opinion that
deep plowing is a good thing for the
land, was strengthened by a conversa-
tion with an intelligent farmer the oth-
er day. The gentleman narrated some
of his own experiences in cultivating the
soil and gave the result of his observa-
tion of the operations of others in the
same line — all of which was testimony
in favor of deep plowing. In one in-
stance spoken of, one portion of a field
of wheat was plowed somewhat deeper
than the rest (the cultivation in other
respects and the soil being the same);
and a considerably larger yield resulted
on the part plowed deepest. The the-
ory of deep plowing is a plausible one;
namely, that by it the partially exhaust-
ed soil of the surface is turned under
and its place supplied by that from be-
low, from which less of the nutritive

matter has been drawn by the previous
crop;, and also that the Stirling up and
pulverizing of the soil to a great depth
enables it to absorb moisture more
readily and to impart its nutriment to
the growing vegetation more liberally.
As the surface of the land becomes im-
poverished in a degree, as it inevitably
must, by constant cultivation, a greater
depth of soil should be stirred and new
matter brought up for the seed to take
root in and draw support from. And
this is especially true as regards the
wheat lands of California from which
the same kind of a crop is taken year
after year, and nothing put on to the
land in return for what it yields. The
Eastern farmers have learned this les-
son, and deep plowing and sub-soiling
have become the rule there, much to
the advantage of the farmers, who find
that their old fields are rejuvenated
by this process. Although the Eastern
farmer and Eastern farming as a rule
can not safely be taken as models for
California to adopt, something may be
gained, by not a few of our farmers, by
the adoption of the Eastern style of
plowing. We suggest that this hint be
experimented upon the present season,
and we should be pleased to learn of
the results of any such experiments. —
Texas Farmer.

OBJECTS OF PKUNTXG.

When a tree is starved, and for that
reason is making but little annual
growth, the first thing to do is to feed
it with the food ingredient that the soil
may lack; but we may assist it back to
a normal condition of thrift and health
by reducing the number of its growth
points by disbudding, or by " heading
in," before growth is fully stalled in the ,
spring.

So, too, when a tree is robbed by

18

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

other and greedier roots invading its
soil; as when Bine Grass sod catches
the moisture and the food gases which
come in from above ground and keeps
them from the tree roots; or, as when
the greedy proprietor demands from
the orchard a crop of small grain, or as
when lustier, hungrier roots of other
trees, like the Willows and Poplars, sap
the stock of food from the soil; the first
thing to do is to choke off the robber,
then enrich the soil, and then in spring
reduce the number of growth points so
that all left can put forth thrifty leaves
and make strong growth.

And again, if severe droughts have
prematurely checked growth, and then
the rains come and growth if resumed,
it is usually best to interfere and stop
part of the points of extension, by pinch-
ing as soon as they start.

Or, when the always trying winter
has come with its cold and dry winds,
so hard that many or most buds are
weakened, and the fluid of the tree —
the sap — has been actually altered from
its normal condition by too great evap-
oration, and too great and too equally
sudden changes of temperature, we
should interfere when growth is about
to begin for the season, and by remov-
ing part of the buds, turn the whole of
the tree's energies to fewer points, to
the end that the physiological action
may be more perfect and stronger.

IS THE ANGLE -WORM A FEIEND ?

A correspondent of the New York
Times writes : My garden Turnips are
badly scarred and grooved by worms.
As I find no worms in contact with the
Turnips but earth-worms, the presump-
tion is that the mischief is done by
them. In several instances I found the
mouths of the worms in the grooves,
the fresh surface of the Turnip afford-

ing unmistakable evidence that the
worms were then and there engaged in
their nefarious work. In two instances,
a worm had eaten a hole into the body
of the Turnip, nearly ah inch in depth,
and was so firmly wedged in that it was
almost impossible to extricate it with-
out breaking it. It may be objected
that, as earth-worms have no teeth, they
can not be the cause of the observed ef-
fects. They may, however, by sucking
out the natural juices of the Turnip de-
stroy the vitality of the part, and so
cause its gradual destruction and the
characteristic grooving of the Turnip.
A neighbor, who is an experienced gar-
dener and an observing man, frequent-
ly finds the tops of his Onion leaves
drawn into holes in the ground, and
looking as if they had been parboiled,
or, as he expresses it, " the juices suck-
ed out." On digging into these holes,
to ascertain the cause of the evil, he has
found earth-worms apparently engaged
in feeding upon the Onion leaves. Ag-
ricultural authorities, on the other
hand, tell us that the earth-worm feeds
only upon dead and decaying vegetable
matter. Will the agricultural authori-
ties please give us equally good evidence
in support of their theory ?

FEUIT AND FRUIT-TREES— BEST VA-
RIETIES FOR PLANTING.

The December number of the Cali-
fornia Agriculturist presents us with a
very important and useful list of the
different varieties of fruit-trees for the
home orchard and for profit, most suita-
ble to our peculiar soil and climate.
This selection is doubtless the result of
many years' experience in the cultivation
of fruit here, and will conduce much to
the benefit of all orchardists, especially
beginners :

Early Apples — Three Red Astrachan;

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

19

two Red June; two White Astrachan;
two Golden Pippin; three Skinner's
Seedling, or Maiden's Blush; one Grav-
enstein; one early Sweet Bough, for bak-
ing. The Golden Pippin is a very tart
Apple, making it desirable for cooking
and drying. It does not dry white as
some; not so fine for market as for
home use. The Gravenstein falls from
the tree badly before ripening, but is
fine for eating. Skinner's Seedling
hangs well to the tree; is an- extra eat-
ing and cooking Apple.

Early Winter Apples — Six Yellow Bell-
flower; two Jonathan.

Late Keeping Apples — Ten Yellow
Newtown Pippins; three White Winter
Pearmain; one Nicker jack, and one late
Talman's Sweet. This makes thirty-
four Apple-trees, all extra. good kinds
for California. There are other sorts }
favorites with some. Of course, we ad-
vise each person to have a tree of his
favorite in addition to this list.

The Apples that dry white, and are
in demand by the Alden factories for
desiccation, are Skinner's Seedling,
Gravenstein, Smith's Cider, Fall Pip-
pin, and Yellow Bellflower. For an
Apple-orchard for profit, where winter
Apples ripen late, as in Santa Clara
County, and keep well, the Newtown
Pippin is the very best one to plant.
Some orchardists say the only one from
one acre to a hundred acres would be
the Newtown Pippin.

Early and late Pears, as they come in
succession — Two Dearborn Seedlings;
one Madeleine; twoBeurreGifford; five
Bartlett; one Seckel; one Flemish
Beauty; three Beurre Hardy; two
White Doyenne; two White Morceau;
three Winter Nelis; two Easter Beurre.
There is no better flavored Pear for
drying or canning than the Bartlett;
but owing to the softness of the core
when ripe enough to dry nicely, it will

not hold to the fork of a paring ma-
chine, and is not so profitable for the
diying factory as the Flemish Beauty,
which is round, smooth, easily worked
on a machine, and is one of the very
nicest drying Pears. Swan's Orange
and Glout Morceau are also fine drying
Pears, where machinery is used. The
best shipping Pears for the Eastern
markets are the Winter Nelis and East-
er Beurre. At one time the Bartlett
and Beurre Hardy were thought the
best, but they do not keep well, and
arrive there when Eastern Pears are
plentiful, while the winter varieties get
there in a sound condition, and at a
time when Eastern Pears are not brought
into competition at lower prices.

Quinces — Two Orange variety. Quinc-
es are exceedingly good baking fruit,
and for canning, either alone or with
Pears.

Plums — One Cherry Plum; two Ear-
ly Golden Drop; two Royal Hative;
two Jefferson; three Columbia; six
Green Gage; five Ickworth's Impera-
trice; two Coe's Late Red. The latter
Plum will last till Christmas, and is de-
sirable chiefly for its late-keeping qual-
ities. Best for canning, Green Gage;
best Plums for drying are Jefferson,
Washington, Ickworth's Imperatrice,
Columbia, Reine Claude de Bavey, Gen-
eral Hand. Soft, mushy Plums are not
desirable for drying, but the Plum that
has a rich flavor, solid pulp, and is eas-
ily pitted, is a drying Plum. The
Quackenboss is called the best shipping
Plum, owing to its beauty and keeping
qualities.

Peaches — One Hale's Early; one Ear-
ly York Serrate; one Crawford's Early;
three Grosse Mignonne — one of the
finest Peaches in cultivation and valuable
for canning; one Late Admirable; Craw-
ford's Late; two Old Mixon, cling; two
Lemon, cling.

20

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Nectarines — One Hardwick; one New
White.

Prunes — Two Grosse Prune d'Agen;
three Petite Prune d'Agen; two Fellen-
burg. The Fellenburg, or German
Prune, is the best drying Prune, and is
coming into high favor on that account
very fast. It pits naturally ; is high fla-
vored, with firm flesh. The Petite
Prune d'Agen stands second, but is rich
and fine, though small. The Grosse
Prune d'Agen is best for shipping, ow-
ing to its beauty, size, and solidity. It
adheres to the pit too tenaciously to be
a favorite for drying.

Apricots — Two Early Golden; two
Moorpark. Nice for cooking, canning
and drying, as well as for eating.

Cherries — Two each of Governor
Wood, Black Eagle, Black Tartarian,
Black Arabian, Coe's Transparent,
Kentish or Pie, Cleveland Bigareau,
Napoleon Bigareau. The Black Tar-
tarian is the most profitable market
Cherry, owing to the regular and good
bearing quality of the trees, and the
solidity and carrying quality of the
fruit, which will not discolor when
bruised, and is large, handsome, and of
fine flavor. There is no better canning
fruit than this Cherry, also good dried.

Figs — Take a variety. The Black
Brunswick, White Smyrna, and Brown
Turkey are as good as any.

Grapes — Two vines each of White
Sweetwater, Isabella and Catawba for a
trellis, ten Rose Peru, ten Elame To-
kay, fifty White Muscat of Alexandria,
ten Black Hamburg, ten Black Malvoi-
sie, ten Black Morocco. The White
Muscat of Alexandria is the very best
raisin Grax>e. Any family can make
their own raisins nicely and send some
to market. The best shipping Grapes
are White Muscat of Alexandria, Flame
Tokay, and Rose Peru, so far as tried,
for profit.

Berries — Blackberries — Fifty Law-
ton, fifty Kittitinny; twenty-five Rasp-
berries; twenty-five Houghton Seedling
Gooseberries; twenty-five Cherry Cur-
rants; of Strawberries, the Longsworth
Prolific and Jocunda prove the best.

The Agriculturist mentions also Olives,
Oranges, Lemons, Citrons, Walnuts,
Almonds, Chestnuts, Mulberries, and
Mespilus. The advice which is given
by those orchardists who have grown
fruit extensively is to have few varie-
ties, preferring those which ripen early
or late, so as to avoid the low prices
that prevail for three months in the
middle of the fruit season.

IEKIGATION IN WINTEE.

The need of irrigation on most of our
river lands only applies to a dry season,
or to late summer, for the purpose of
raising a second crop. On a great part
of the lands, however, more crops of al-
falfa can be cut with occasional irrigation
than without. It always pays, too, to
keep the ditches ready for droAvning out
gophers — the only enemy in this sec-
tion of the country to the prolific alfal-
fa. These pests are constantly at work.
One of them will fill up a new mound
every morning, covering a spot of grass
often two feet in diameter at its base.
The grass is killed under it, and the
tramping of stock only spreads it over a
larger surface. During the season the
place is seeded again, but the mounds
then seriously interfere with the mower,
and give the field a neglected appear-
ance. On a farm near town a China-
man is exclusively engaged, a good part
of his time, in directing the winter water
over the ground, drowning the gophers
and leveling their mounds. Dogs are
trained to catch them, and they will de-
tect every one of the pests that have
crept up into the mounds above water,

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

21

by passing- their noses over them. Crows
hover over the flood, and pounce on the
gopher as soon as he comes to the sur-
face, and the butcher bird will sit on
the fence and catch the young as they fol-
low the old ones out of the holes. The
work has demonstrated the iact that the
winter irrigation fertilizes the ground
better than at any other season of the
year. The rains wash the better part
of the soil of the hills into the streams,
and the water is laden with the riches of
an immense territory stretching for hun-
dreds of miles. A tank of water, filled
from a hydraulic ram, only had a depos-
it of a quarter of an inch from the 1st of
May to the 1st of November; while from
that time to the present, after the rains,
the deposit of sediment was upward of
three inches. The sediment is the rich-
est of the surface soil, and when dried
will cut like cheese.

No better evidence can be required to
induce every one to take the benefit of
the abundant waters of the winter. Of-
ten, by improving the time, the Decem-
ber irrigation will supply the moisture of
a wdiole winter's rain, and make the
crop a certainty when overtaken by a
dry season. "With the knowledge of
the great advantage, it would be sheer
neglect to overlook the importance of
such timely watering, and none but an
imprudent farmer would fail to avail
himself of it. — Southern Calif ornian.

ORCHARD PESTS IN CALIFORNIA.

It is not more than a half-dozen years
since the horticulturists of California
were, proclaiming exemption from all
the insect pests which made fruit-grow-
ing in the East such a precarious busi-
ness. But the tables "have turned"
more rapidly than expected, and curcu-
lios are at the California Plums, cod-
dling moths at their Apples, and pea-

weevils come to us in entomological
specimens from the Pacific slope, show-
ing their presence in that supposed
never-to-be-infested region. But worse
than all this, there now come statements
which show that the much dreaded
Grape louse (or Phylloxera) are at work
in the vineyards. Great is the conster-
nation produced among the Grape-
growers of California at this discovery,
and they have good cause for it, inas-
much as this pest has caused immense
losses in the vine-growing regions of
Europe, and thus far no practical reme-
dy is know^n. The dry soils and cli-
mate of California will doubtless prove
to be congenial to this root-inhabiting
pest of the vine, consequently the vine-
yardists of the Pacific slope may have to
bestir themselves in finding a prevent-
ive, else see their vineyards destroyed.
The paradise for fruit - growers appears
to be still a terra incognita, although
frequently announced of late years as
having been found.

FLOWER MAEKET FOE SAN FRANCISCO.

Years ago the city of Milwaukee (when
it was about half as large as San Fran-
cisco) had its flower market, and in the
early months there was always a crowd
gathered about the stalls where bou-
quets and potted plants were sold at
prices which made it possible for the
poorest to enjoy them. The German
market gardeners vied with each other
in producing the earliest Stock Gillies,
Pansies and Verbenas, as well as Peas
and Cauliflowers. Scarlet Salvias, Ge-
raniums and Phloxes for bedding out
were raised in great quantities, and if
wedding or funeral flowers were wanted
they could always be had there. I was
acquainted with the rarely stocked
greenhouses of Alexander Mitchell, the
Midas of the northwest, but all his

22

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

money could not make such pots of
Calceolarias, such Chrysanthemums, as
those broad-faced German women sold
for sixpence.

It was the fashion there, created by
the elegant Grerman ladies who pride
themselves on their thorough knowl-
edge of domestic matters, for house-
keepers to do their own marketing, and
it was pleasant to see the Daisies and
Forget-me-nots added to the vegeta-
bles stores in their ample baskets.

In California I see a great many fine
places planted to order, and then given
up to the gardener, just as the house-
furnishing is given up to the upholster-
er; but not many where every shrub
and plant has been put into the earth
by the mistress' hands, and whose ev-
ery adornment could tell a story of
some white day, or remembered visit to
a friend. Floral decorations for the
table are now coming to be esteemed as
indispensable luxuries, but to me they
lose the sweetness of their meanings
when they minister only to the display
of wealth. How charming it would be
for ladies to go out to a flower market,
make their own selections, and a morn-
ing's work of weaving bouquets and
table decorations which would soften
the glitter of crystal and gleam of silver
on their dinner tables ! How much ten-
derer the association of the flower cross
woven by loving fingers ! What would
we think of a letter of condolence or
congratulation ordered from the station-
er? Thought and affection give val-
ue to the most perishable things.

Again, a flower market, such as San
Francisco might easily sustain, would
be a great attraction to the strangers
within our gates. They come to us
through the snowy pathways of the
mountains, in numbers increasing con-
stantly, and the bright flowers are their
best welcome. They will look at the

Veronicas and Fuchsias through iron
railings, and catch the perfume of the
violets; but a sixpenny pot earned home
to the hotel is worth more in making
contented citizens of them.

An impression of the abundance of
beauty ought to be made with the flow-
ers as well as the fruits. And this re-
minds us of the flush of color, the fine
display of autumn's wonder work, that
came to us the day after Thanksgiving,
from Alhambra Gardens, in shape of a
box of leaves, rivaling those of New
England Maples. "We brought them
here, to make our lodgings home-like,
and they brighten the walls as I write
— the Abutilon leaves, singularly mot-
tled with golden spots; the yellow Pear
leaves, with ruby veinings, and the deep
sinused crimson Grape leaves, which
Bacchus might have worn for his crown.

I once sent Ole Bull a single leaf of
the swamp Maple from a Wisconsin bog,
laid on a sheet of Chinese rice paper,
on which was written the date of his
sixtieth birthday, and back from Eu-
rope came a request for more leaves of
"that tree," which taught so sweet a
lesson of a ripened life. Such another
leaf I have not found, and there are
few such autumnal days for any of us
as the white haired angel of the violin
enjoys ere he is gathered home, but if
we want a well colored, well ripened
autumn, we must gather music and flow-
ers into our daily lives. We must feed
upon truth, beauty and goodness. For
the sake of the children born and bred
in city streets, let us have a flower mar-
ket in San Francisco. — Jeanne G. Carr.

Ample fruit on a farm pays for itself
in every regard — in improved health of
the farmer's family, in diversifying the
salable products of the farm, and in
adding tenfold to the worth of the land.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

23

PURE AIR AND MOISTURE FOR HOUSE
PLANTS.

House plants are things of life which
require pure and warm air and moist-
ure as well as animals. A wide pan of
water should always be placed on the
stove or in the heating furnace at a
point where it will be heated enough to
send off Vapor into the air,;and it should
be kept supplied with water at all
times. Towels, napkins, or other cloths
hung near the fire and wetted as often
as they become dry will impart an agree-
able feeliug to the air of a warm room.
Every lady must have noticed how pleas-
ant the change from the dry sitting or
dining room to the kitchen or laundry
where damp clothes are hanging round,
if not in so large a quantity as to pro-
duce over-dampness. The objection to
stoves and hot-air furnaces has no doubt
resulted from the absence of sufficient
moisture-applying apparatus. Stove
rooms that are not properly ventilated
are ruinous to growing plants. The
whole atmosphere in the conservatories
of florists is always kept so moist that
a person, when entering, observes the
dampness. Yet such an atmosphere is
congenial to tender plants.

Most growing plants become sickly
and ' ' drawn up " in the parlors of our
first-class houses, while in those of less
pretensions we frequently see them vig-
orous and flourishing. In houses with-
out " modern improvements" the air is
not heated until its capacity for moist-
ure is such as to greedily take it from
the plants, as well as from the persons
who dwell there, nor are the windows
sealed so tightly that the plants can not
have a breath of fresh air from without.
If people will make a climate in their
houses like that of a desert, they must
content themselves with such plants as
are naturally adapted to arid regions.
Cactuses, Crassulas, Sedums, and such

thick - skinned plants will endure an
amount of roasting and drying which
Avould kill a Camellia or a Rose, though
even they must have a certain propor-
tion of life-laden oxygen.

Supposing the plants to be well es-
tablished in good soil, the three points
to be attended to are air, water and clean-
liness. Every day when the weather is
not too cold, the window sash should
be let down at the top, and on mild
days kept open during the warmer part
of the day. In the first place, cleanli-
ness is to be observed with the pots. If
they have become covered with green
film, they are to be set in a pail of wa-
ter and soaked a while, and the green
matter washed off with a cloth or scrub-
bing-brush. The inside of the pot
should be clean down to the earth, and
the surface of the soil free from moss
and fallen leaves.

As to the plants themselves, the two
great troubles are dust and insects. A
paper or light muslin screen laid over
them while the room is being swept,
will keep off a great deal of dust, but
even this will not obviate the necessity
for washing and syringing. Broad and
smooth-leaved plants may be washed
with a soft sponge, or, what is better,
placing the hand over the earth, turn
the plant upside down and move it
briskly about for a few seconds in a ves-
sel of water. Then set the plant up-
right, wash each leaf between the finger
and thumb, and afterward give it an-
other rinsing. A plant too large to be
treated in this way may be syringed, or
lay it down and let water fall upon it
from a considerable height from a wa-
tering-pot. This can be done out of
doors in mild weather, and in cold
weather in a sink or bathing-tub. If
plants are frequently washed they will
be but little troubled by insects. — Ex-
change.

24

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTUKIST.

PLANT OLIVE -TKEES.

There is an entire freedom from risk
in planting Olive-trees in the southern
part of our State, for there they have
grown luxuriantly and borne fruit
abundantly for nearly a hundred years.
The fine Olives of the church gardens
in San Luis Obispo have yielded fruit
since 1782. The olive-orchards of San
Diego, San Fernando, San Buenaven-
tura, and Santa Barbara have all flour-
ished and given forth their exquisite
berries for nearly the same length of
time. Thus it will be seen that there
is no experimental risk in trying to
grow Olive-trees almost anywhere in
southern California ; and we have seen
them doing nicely on the foot-hills of
Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara,
Alameda, Contra Costa, Tuolumne, Cal-
averas, and Amador counties, and be-
lieve that they will succeed well in
forty counties in our State, at a certain
height on the hills, so as to come with-
in what is termed the warm belt. It is
a tree that can be easily raised in this
climate, requiring but little or no irri-
gation, and, when once it has taken root,
will grow with about as little care as any
of the ornamental sorts of trees planted
on this coast. And there are but few
trees more beautiful to the eye than the
olive after it commences bearing. Its
oblong, lance-shaped leaves, with their
deep green shade on top and light
feathery color underneath, when dis-
turbed by the gentle winds produce a
peculiar and pleasing effect. The tree
grows to the height of from thirty to
forty feet, and its branches spread later-
ally in every direction, with an erect,
jaunty form, making a very inviting
shade-tree for roadways and dwellings
accompanied with the substantial ad-
vantage of bearing fruit that will pay
for the cultivation. — Pacific Grocer.

The Pecan Tkee. — The Grass Valley
Union says: " Several of our contempo-
raries are discussing the subject of plant-
ing trees, and with all of them the nut-
bearing trees seem to be most in favor.
The nut-bearing tree furnishes an arti-
cle of food always, and the wood of any
nut-bearer is valuable as timber. Not
one of the nut-bearing trees has wood
which is not useful. But we have seen
no mention of the Pecan -tree. The
nuts are sold in every candy and varie-
ty store in the State, and the nut is
popular everywhere. The tree is one
of the finest shade -trees that grows.
It will grow on any alluvial land. As
timber, the Pecan is next to the Hicko-
ry in strength and far superior to the
Hickory in lightness. The wood of the
Pecan-tree makes finer pick - handles,
axe -handles, whipstocks and that sort
of thing than any other tree. In plant-
ing, the Pecan - nuts should be obtained
from the western part of Texas. There
the fruit of the tree is much larger than
any along the banks of the Mississippi."

Variegated Flowees. — A really pretty
effect can be produced on any colored
flower, Peony, Rose, Fuchsia, etc., etc.,
making them beautifully variegated, by
holding the flower in the hollow of the
inverted hands, and lighting a match
underneath it, being careful not let the
flower get close enough to be scorched.
It is the fume of the brimstone that
does it, and the effect is sometimes so
startling as to deceive a botanist into
thinking he has discovered a new varie-
ty. To make a very pretty medley pic-
ture, cut flowers and sprays of buds
and leaves from the colored plates in
catalogues, and gum them tastily on
white or delicately tinted card-board,
in the form of a wreath or bouquet. A
rustic frame makes a very satisfactory
picture of it. — Floral Cabinet.

THE OALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTURIST.

25

THE BULB SEASON.

BY F. A. MILLEB.

[CONTINUED.]

The bulbs heretofore spoken off are
generally known as the Dutch, or Hol-
land Bulbs, because they are almost ex-
clusively grown and sent out from that
country all over the globe, the climate
and soil of Holland being admirably
adapted to the purpose. No other coun-
try can equal the " Dutch" in the culti-
vation of these bulbs. However, the
so-called Dutch Bulbs form only a very
small proportion of the bulbous-rooted
plants, which are now under cultivation
in and out of doors; and it is a most
remarkable fact that bulb culture is be-
ginning to f orm a very important feature
in floriculture everywhere. In this
country the progress in this direction
has been somewhat slow ; nevertheless
we find a continually growing demand
for bulbs. No doubt they are a beau-
tiful and interesting class of plants,
arid no sooner will their cultivation and
management be better and more gener-
ally understood than their desirability
will be acknowledged by all who take
any interest in plants. "We shall also
find that many kinds of bulbs are par-
ticularly well adapted to our mild cli-
mate, and their cultivation will be much
less laborious and disappointing than
in the Eastern States. There are un-
doubtedly some bulbs which will not
thrive as well as others, but from my ex-
perience so far I am hardly prepared to
point out any particular kind that has
proved an entire failure. Bulbs, like
all other plants, require rest; some must
have their season of rest during our wet
winters, others must rest during our dry
summers. There are some which we
may call Evergreen; that is to say, their
foliage is persistent, and these we may
keep in a constant growing condition,
Vol. VI.— 3.

yet a season of comparative rest will be
beneficial to them.

The time is now at hand when we
may plant Lily bulbs. The Lilies are
certainly most beautiful objects and
can not fail to please. The effect pro-
duced by a group of Lilies in the gar-
den when in bloom can not be equaled
by any other class of plants, and as pot-
plants in the conservatory, if well
grown, they have no superior for con-
trast, effect, or beauty. The number of
different species and varieties is large.
Upward of forty-six species are describ-
ed, and many of these comprise a large
number of varieties. In the more ex-
tensive catalogues of Europe we find
over one hundred varieties enumerated.
In our own State we find a number of
varieties growing wild, and although
somewhat difficult to cultivate, we should
not lose sight of them. Some judicious
experimenting may lead to success.
They are certainly entitled to as much
consideration as any other variety of
Lily.

I/ilium Humboldtii, although known
for many years as the California Tiger
Lily, was only a few years ago brought
to more particular notice by Mr. Boezl.
It is found in open situations, 2,000 to
3,000 feet above the level of the sea,
growing in a yellow gravelly clay, some-
times sandy clay, of a porous nature,
exposed to a hot sun. This Lily is easi-
ly grown, and bulbs which I have culti-
vated for four years are producing every
season finer spikes of flowers than I
have ever witnessed in their native soil.
Last season I had spikes seven feet
high, on which I counted twenty-nine
flowers and buds, all of which came to
perfection. The flowers are of orange
red color, with numerous dark brown or
claret tinted dots, the dots being more
numerous and larger toward the centre
of the flower. The petals are reflexed,

26

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

and give the flower a graceful appear-
ance. Certainly I can recommend this
Lily for general cultivation. If culti-
vated in pots, I found it to do best if
planted high, so that a portion of the
scales is visible. The best adapted soil
is a coarse gravelly loam, and good
drainage should be provided. This Lily
is also called, incorrectly, Lilium Bloom-
erianum.

Lilium pardalinum, another Calif or-
nian Lily, found in various parts of the
State; growing in moist places, shaded
as well as exposed. I have found it
5,000 feet above the level of the sea in
mountain meadows, where night frosts
occur in June and September. There
its roots form a compact mass or sod,
the flower stems running up five or 'six
feet high, bearing from eight to twelve
graceful flowers, bright orange toward
the centre and brilliant red at the end
of the petals, which are well recurved.
It is one of our prettiest Californian
Lilies, easily cultivated if well supplied
with moisture and if grown in heavy
turfy loam. Its pleasing form will
make it very desirable.

[to be continued.]

HOW TO MAKE A VEGETABLE GARDEN.

There has grown in this State a very
general impression that none but river
bottom lands are fit for vegetable gar-
dens. This impression has taken so
strong a hold of the minds of farmers
on the higher shelf lands, usually de-
nominated grain lands, that very few
of these farmers even think of raising
their own vegetables, but content them-
selves with buying stale articles from
the wagons that go about the country
retailing vegetables that have been tak-
en from the market gardens, sold to
dealers in town, then to the peddler,
and finally to the farmer, who in order

to keep a supply on hand must pur-
chase enough to last him from one trip
of the peddler to the next, generally a
week. Now, in the first place, we will
state that the rich river bottoms are the
best soil we have for the production of
vegetables, but while we acknowledge
this we also claim that all our good
grain lands in every part of the State
are also as good for making successful
gardens on as the same style of lands
in any other State — as good as are the
hilly or rolling sections of the Eastern
or Middle States, or the prairie lands
of the States further west. In these
States, as well as here, the rich bottom
lands of the creeks and rivers are the
best adapted to vegetables, and will
raise larger and more to the acre than
the rolling lands, but on this account
do the farmers of the latter abandon the
idea of cultivating vegetables for their
own tables and depend on buying them
from peddlers? Should they adopt
this plan very few of them would be
able to make both ends meet one year
with another, and, in fact, very few of
them would be able to retain their title
to their farms in themselves for any
length of time.

The position of our grain farmers
who have adopted this plan is by no
means secure, and we assure them they
will find it out some day, though too
late for many of them. We urge this
matter at this time, because, as we have
before said, this is the time of year to
make a garden and begin the planting
of seeds for the vegetables to supply
the table the coming year.

As very many of our farmers, whose
lessons in agriculture have been taken
in this State exclusively, and whose
XJractical knowledge consists in the abil-
ity to manage four or six mules or horses
on a gang plow, or before a double drag
or harrow, and run a header and steam

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTUEIST.

27

thrashing-inachine, will feel awkard' in
a little inclosure of an acre of ground,
making beds for radishes, beets, and
carrots, and planting the seeds and tak-
ing care of them after planting, we will
endeavor to give them a few practical
hints in this direction. Having select-
ed the spot of land for a garden near
the house containing as much light loam
soil as possible, plow and subsoil it or
trench it with the shovel and spade to
the depth of eighteen or twenty inches,
trying to keep the top dirt on the sur-
face as much as possible. Then, if the
soil be composed of so much of clay or
adobe as to cause it to be sticky in wet
weather, or to bake on the surface aft-
er a shower, it will pay to draw from
the nearest creek bed, or from some
sand or loam deposit nearer by, light
sand or loam enough to cover the sur-
face to the depth of from four to six
inches. To this add three inches of the
best rotted stable manure to be obtained
from your own or your neighbor's barn.
Having thus evenly spread these on the
surface, put on the harrow and thor-
oughly mix them. Then with the two-
horse plow, set to go say eight inches
deep, plow and cross plow until the
whole soil to that depth shall be thor-
oughly mixed and pulverized. At the
end of this operation, and at very little
expense other than the utilization of
time that not so used would be wasted,
the farmer on the stiffest adobe wheat
land will have a garden spot equal, if
not superior, to the best of our river or
creek bottoms. The garden soil so pre-
pared, and thoroughly cultivated each
year, with yearly additions of well rot-
ted manure, will require but little arti-
ficial irrigation, and can be readily sup-
plied by pump and windmill from the
house that furnishes water for domes-
tic purposes. Right here we would sug-
gest that underground irrigation is the

best and cheapest for the garden. It
will cost something to prepare for the
distribution of the water under ground
in the first instance, but in the long run
money will be saved by adopting this
plan. Two redwood two by three
scantling, grooved out on one side, an
inch deep and an inch wide, and the
grooved side turned together so as to
form an opening for the water to run
through, one by two inches square,
laid say eighteen inches deep and twelve
or fifteen feet apart one way across the
plat, and these connected with a tank
at the well, will form the means of a
perfect, cheap and durable system of
irrigation. Of course there must be
apertures at frequent intervals, say once
in two feet, along this tube, to let the
water out. Water judiciously distrib-
uted through this system of under-
ground tubes will give the garden plat
so prepared the power of perpetual pro-
duction. It will, in fact, convert winter
and summer and autumn, so far as the
limits of the garden are concerned, into
perpetual tropical spring, in which vege-
tables of all kinds may be kept constant-
ly ready for the table from one year's
end to the next.

Confirmation of this statement, of a
character convincing to all who may
feel an interest in the subject, may be
readily found in the perpetual green in
the Chinese gardens in the suburbs of
every town and hamlet in the State.
These gardens have the advantage of
constant irrigation during the day sum-
mer and winter, but the underground
irrigation proposed would be as much
superior to the surface irrigation of the
Chinese as their plan is superior to no
irrigation at all. While the one will
draws the roots of all vegetation deep
down in the soil, and consequently
give them a firm hold of life, and in-
duces an even growth, the other keeps

28

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

the roots near the surface, subject to
the slightest change in the weather, and
liable to uneven and unhealthy growth.
We have no reservation in the opinion
that a garden on the uplands in any
part of the State, prepared and irrigat-
ed as we have suggested, and well at-
tended, will be superior to any ever yet
cultivated on the richest bottom Ian is
in the most favored locality, and will
attest their superiority upon actual ex-
periment.

The fence around the garden should
be high and tight, first, to keep out all
poultry, etc. , and second, to screen the
oontents from the effects of the cold
south winds in the winter, and dry
north winds in the summer. These
fences will answer also for the special
protection of vines and small fruit-bush-
es that may be trained against them.
Along the line of the south and east
fences plant your Currant and Goose-
berry bushes, as well as red Raspberry
plants, and the shade of the fence will
furnish the protection from the direct
rays of the sun in the warm parts of
the day so necessary to the successful
cultivation of these fruits in our dry
climate.

On the north and east sides make
your hot beds and cold frames for the
earliest vegetables, and plant your
Blackberries and Orange, Lime, and
Lemon-trees, and such semi-tropical
plants as you may wish to cultivate in
the garden. Let also your beds for
winter vegetables be made in this end
of the garden under the protection of
the northern fence, and exposed to a
southern view. Here plant your early
Peas, early Potatoes, early Beets, Tur-
nips and Onions, Corn, Beans, etc.,
while the southern part of the garden
may be reserved for later planting of
these same kinds of vegetables. — Sac-
ramento Record- Union.

DECIDUOUS TKEES AND SHEUBS.

A judicious selection of trees and
shrubs is needful if we desire to make
our surroundings a joy to the eye; and
as this is the best season to plant them,
a few directions concerning them may
not come amiss to our readers. There
are few trees and shrubs that are not
objects of beauty and admiration, if
they grow luxuriantly and are well
trimmed, but the style and contour of
them should be such as will harmonize
the best with the architectural arrange-
ment of the house. Those which have
a symmetrical habit of growth, whether
upright or gracefully drooping, are the
best adapted to mingle with classical
statuary and geometrically laid out
flower gardens, and will be in good
taste when planted near homes of mod-
ern erection ; while as the distance from
the house increases, the style and habits
of the plants niay. be of a freer or more
massive character. Quaint old-fash-
ioned country houses can be embellish-
ed and improved if the trees and shrubs
are of a more rampant growth, but
plants of statelier habits can be grouped
together in flower-beds at some little
distance from the buildings.

But we should not presume to dictate
that plants of decisive, uniform, and
symmetrical shape, could not be inter-
spersed with a rambling style of growth,
when the houses are not of a decided
character, for then a system of mixed
planting is often very ornamental and
desirable. In planting shrubs, or re-
moving them to other locations, it is not
needful to wait until all the leaves have
fallen, but they can be planted as late
as the middle of December if the ground
is not too cold; but when planted two
or three weeks earlier, they will often
become more firmly rooted, and better
able to bear the dry weather of the en-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

29

suing summer. The ground should be
well dug over for the reception of the
shrubs, and it should also be thorough-
ly drained, for if it is wet and pasty it
will injure the tender fibres of the plants.

Stake and tie up each shrub or tree
as soon as planted, so that the wind
cannot disturb their roots, and if the
season inclines to be severe, mulch the
roots with a few inches of stable litter.
When buying shrubs and ornamental
trees, select young and vigorous plants,
rather than those of a larger size and
less healthy appearance, for in a year
or so they will be in a better condition
than the larger ones.

The following is a select list:

Forsythia viridissima is a very showy
yellow flowering shrub; blooms early
and profusely.

Leycesteria formosa is very curious ;
its long clusters of white flowers with
purple calyxes presenting a handsome
appearance.

Pyrus Japonica and P. spectabilis are
fine; the first has brilliant scarlet flow-
ers, the other a delicate peach-bloom
shade. Blooms very early.

Deutzia gracilis is a low growing sbrub,
covered with white flowers in early
summer.

Daphne mezereum,an upright growing
shrub, produces an abundance of purple
flowers before the leaves appear.

Weigela rosea variegata is a compact
growing shrub, deep leaves margined
with white.

Spirea Bevesii has a drooping habit,
is free flowering and pure white.

Spirea callosa alba is a new white flow-
ering variety of dwarf habit.

Hydrangea Japonica is a very hand-
some shrub from Japan; flowers, a rich
rose color.

Hydrangea Empress Eugenie is a new
variety from France; flowers a delicate
blue and pink.

Deutzia Forlunii, a lovely shrub of two
to three feet in height, has white flow-
ers and is perfectly hardy.

Cupressus disticha (deciduous cypress)
has a feathery foliage of a delicate pale
green, is pyramidal in shape and very
ornamental.

Amelanchier botryapium (snowy mes-
pilus) is a very graceful tree, with white
flowers.

The double-flowering Cherry— a showy
tree of slow growth ; is covered early in
the spring with a profusion of double
white flowers.

Double-flowering Peach has double
pink flowers, similar to the Cherry.

Cercis canadensis (Judas-tree) has
bright rosy pink flowers, but ■ has an ir-
regular habit.

The Mop-headed Acacia is a very
handsome, symmetrical tree, the head
forming a perfect globe.

Magnolia purpurea is a large leafed
tree, of straggling growth, with pur-
ple, tulip-shaped flowers; blooms early
in summer.

Salisburia adiantifolia (Gingko, or
Maiden-hair tree) is of slow growth, but
very handsome and symmetrical; foliage
of a light green, resembling the fronds
of the Maiden-hair Fern.

Gytisus laburnum (Laburnum) is very
graceful in habit, with racemes of showy,
yellow, pea-shaped flowers.

The Old Man and the Young Trees. —
The young man in the beautiful fable of
"La Fontaine" ridiculed the man of
four-score for planting «an avenue of
little trees, because he could not hope
to live long enough to see them as high
as his head. "Well," said he, "and
what of that? If their shade afford me
no pleasure it may afford pleasure to
my children, and even you; and, there-
fore, the planting of them gives me
pleasure."

30

THE CALIFOKNIA HOBTICULTUEIST.

WINDOW GAEDENS.

Just as drapery adds to the grace of
a room, and gives it what mirror and
picture and artistic furniture can not
with all their elaboration of form or
color afford, so the vine gives to our
window gardens their overshadowing
air of protection and comfort, and of
brooding persuasiveness — something
like the effect in sacred pictures of
kindly, hovering wings. Our first
thought, then, in ornamenting our win-
dows may well be for the vines, and
they reward care more readily, perhaps,
than any other house plants. At any
rate, their luxuriance is sufficiently sym-
pathetic to give answer, and quickly too,
to the tending touch. Shall we choose
for ourselves a variety of these over-
arching and daintily climbing greener-
ies ? First of all, then, is the Ivy, which
hai'dly needs words of praise, since it
speaks so frankly for itself. Only for
beginners in its culture need advice be
offered, and to those not yet beginners,
to whom we say : Do not let your house,
do not let your sitting-room, at least,
be without this unexacting but generous
little friend. Ivy is readily grown from
cuttings. All we have to do is to cut
from the parent plant little branches
about three inches in length and im-
merse them in vials of water, or plant
them in shallow boxes filled with sand
and wet to the consistency of mud,
and kept so fully moistened until the
roots have sprouted from the Ivy stems.
Ivy already potted out of doors should
be brought into the house in November,
and by degrees accustomed to the heat
of the sitting-room, so as to flourish all
winter. You must wash its dusty leaves,
and once a week give a tiny stimulant
of guano and nip off with sympathetic
judgment the terminal shoots, so as to
duplicate the upreachiug effort of new

leaves, and your Ivy will gratefully re-
spond and domesticate itself, and you
will ask little of it that it will not per-
form. Of flowering vines there are a
hundred beauties, and selections must
be made from the florist's tempting lists
with reference to the temperature of our
rooms and the exposure of our windows.
In windows facing the south, and with
rooms of warm temperature, we may
have the variegated kinds of the Mexi-
can vine, named after the priest who
brought it from the wilds, the Goboea
scandens, with its bell-shaped flowers,
and the Passion-flower (Passiflora cera-
lia and fiernusina), which needs also
for profuse blooming such sunlight and
temperature of from sixty to seventy-
five degrees, and the ^.ssus discolor, a
close dependent upon heat and light.
For shadier windows there are the ipo-
mcea — the Morning Glories — in many
varieties and colors, from sky-blue to
scarlet, generous rewarders of care, and
so rapid in growth that they will blos-
som six weeks after the seed is planted,
and the Vinca, the charming little per-
venche of the French, with its leaves
glossy like myth, and its starry blos-
soms, lavender-colored and blue. And
again, is the temperature too warm for
Ivies, one may have for foliage vines the
Smilax, an exotic from South Africa, a
plant requiring rich sandy soil and
plenty of watering, and sometimes, if
attacked by its mortal enemy, the red
spider, a dusting with cayenne pepper.
And for the same conditions of growing
there is a new vine, a wonderful Fern,
called the "Walking Fern, just now ap-
pearing in the conservatories — a vine so
graceful, so novel, the Smilax has hard-
ly a hope to remain the reigning belle
among the festoon plants of the win-
dow basket or the winter's beauty in
the epergne or the vase. — New York
Mail.

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

31

THE CULTUKE OF THE HAZEL-NUT.

"The Eegister of Rural Affairs for
1876" (an almanac that no well regu-
lated farmer's family should be without)
contains an article on the culture of the
Filbert. It is a curious fact that this
paper, emanating from one of the most
intelligent sources of horticultural in-
formation, can do no more than give
English experience. American experi-
ence of any extent seems to be wanting.
Downing says he has found the English
kinds productive in this climate; but
we do not remember to have seen any
accounts of their successful Western
culture, nor indeed of their being grown
to any extent anywhere in the United
States. .

The Genus Corylus, Hazel-nut and
Filbert, belongs to the Oak family, and
comprises :

G. Avellana, European Hazel-nut or
Filbert, which grows, according to Gray,
to nearly double the height of the com-
mon Hazel-nut. Loudon describes it
as a shrub or low tree, a native of Eu-
rope, and the east and west of Asia,
growing to the height of twenty feet and
upward, but commonly found in the
character of a bush, as undergrowth in
woods, especially of the Oak. He adds
that in Eastwell Park, Kent, among
Thorns, Crab-trees, and common Ma-
ples, they are upward of thirty feet high,
with trunks one foot in diameter at the
ground.

G. Gorluna, Constantinople Hazel,
according to Loudon, is a tree fifty or
sixty feet high, a native of Turkey and
Asia Minor, but hardy in England.
Who has known of any experience with
it in the United States ?

G. Bostrater, beaked Hazel-nut, is
found generally in the Northern States,
but extends down the Atlantic coast as
far south, we believe, as the Carolinas.

We do not know that it is found in the
North-west. It is lower and stronger
than our common Hazel-bush, and has
the " hulls " curiously twisted about the
nut, whence its name. Two to five feet
is all its altitude.

C. Americana or American Hazel-nut
is very common in the West, and unlike
the other species seems to only thrive
permanently in the open ground. It is
of a better flavor than the Filbert as re-
ceived here, and varies enough in size
and quality to suggest the desirability
of attempting its improvement. We
presume some of our readers may have
observed somewhat in the same direc-
tion, and possibly experimented with
them under culture. If so, we should
be very glad to hear from them.

It would also be of interest to know
whether the Filbert has been propagat-
ed on our common Hazel-nut, as a stock,
and with what success. The time is
not far off when the Hazel-nut must be
grown under cultivation, if at all. Civ-
ilization and better farming does away
with wild Strawberries, Raspberries,
and Nuts, and makes it needful that we
should grow them.

The monster pumpkin of the world
has been raised in this valley. Mr. J.
R. Truman brought to the depot last
Friday afternoon a pumpkin which
weighed two hundred and thirty-three
pounds. This monster measures seven
feet and a half in circumference and
twenty-four and three-quarter inches in
diameter. It was raised by Mr. Truman
on sandy land and has never had a drop
of irrigation. It is intended to prepare
this pumpkin for shipment to the Cen-
tennial. It can't be beat anywhere, and
is only another evidence of the aston-
ishing fertility of the soil of this valley.
— Downey Courier,

32

THE CALIFORNIA HOETICULTUBIST.

^tutorial UoriMio.

OUR FRONTISPIECE.

"We have been disappointed in receiv-
ing from the East a beautifully colored
grdlip of flowers, with which we intend-
ed to embellish the Horticulturist this
month. In its stead, therefore, we
have selected two characteristic engrav-
ings of a winter scene in the Eastern
States and one in California. The con-
trast will readily strike every one.
While in the East old winter reigns in
all his usual rigor and severity at this
season, with frost, ice, and snow cover-
ing the landscape, here in California
our mountains, hills, plains, and valleys
are covered with verdure from the late
plentiful and mild rains, and many wild
plants and flowers are already begin-
ning to bloom; and our many native
evergreen Oaks and other native ever-
green shrubs and trees, together with
the numerous exotic Eucalypti, Acacias
and other important vegetation, lend
an almost complete summer aspect to
the view. "We speak of this difference
to the rest of the States in the climate
of this portion of the "Union not in any
spirit of boasting, but only with the
thankfulness and satisfaction that it is
our lot to dwell in such a highly favor-
ed climate as we enjoy in this beautiful,
mild, and genial Pacific Slope.

THE NEW GOLDEN -TINTED CYPRESS.

In our last number of the Horticul-
turist we noticed this lately-discovered
species of the Cypress family of plants,
and stated that we would make further
inquiries concerning it. "We have as-
certained from Mr. John Begg, of Gil-
roy, that at Centreville, Alameda Coun-
ty, there is a specimen of this beautiful
evergreen sixteen feet high, and branch-
ing out horizontally thirty or forty feet,

growing side by side with the Monterey
Cypress, and entirely distinct from the
latter, and that it has not yet been bo-
tanically described. "When the branches
become of a certain age and in a bearing
state, the edges of the foliage assume a
bright yellow color nearly all the sea-
son, but especially in July. Mr. Begg
raised some seedlings of this very hand-
some variety two or three years ago,
which he has disposed of. In the sum-
mer, in their native habitat on one of
our southern ranges of mountains, he
says they form a lovely scene, similar to
a golden-tinted grove of trees, attract-
ive to the eye of the explorer or botan-
ist. No doubt we shall soon hear more
concerning this addition to our arbore-
tum from some of our nurserymen and
florists.

VICE'S FLOWER AND VEGETABLE GAR.
DEN, AND FLORAL GUIDE FOR 1876.

This zealous, refined in floricultural
taste, and enterprising proprietor of
one of the famous Rochester nurseries
and floral depots, has presented the
lovers of flowers, this year, an enlarged
and improved number of the " Guide,"
and given us in it four beautiful new
chromo plates, being groups or bou-
quets of flowers representing the differ-
ent classes, as a group of Annuals, Per-
ennials, Flowers of Tender Bulbs, and
of Hardy Bulbous Flowers, and has
named it ' ' Vick's Floral and Vegetable
Garden." Mr. Vick has also continued
in his " Floral Guide " for this year an
entertaining narrative of his late "Trip
to the Pacific." The somewhat humor-
ous and graphic account of his visit to
the Calaveras Big Trees, the Tosemite
Valley, with his description of the In-
dians there, and of the curious tarantula
spider and its trap-door nest, is quite
interesting. In speaking of the Califor-
nia Ilex or Holly (Photinia arbutifolia)

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICT7LTUFJST.

33

he says: "This tree, from what we
heard and what we know, must be
beautiful in the autumn and winter,
but we were not in the season to see it
in all its glory." This, as is well
known, is an evergreen very similar to
the English Holly.

It is much used here, as in Europe,
for decorating our churches, halls, etc.
It grows, as a lady correspondent to
Mr. Vick says, on rocky hillsides and
on the banks of creeks. It blossoms
late in the season; and when winter
comes it makes a very showy appear-
ance, with its bright red berries and
green leaves. The berries hang on the
the bushes until quite late in the spring.
They will grow from the seed, and may
possibly endure the rigor of the Eastern
climate, as they bear a good deal of
frost here. The bushes are so loaded
with berries they almost break down
with their weight. They are a lovely
sight. The Indians make great use of
the berries for food. Mr. Vick, in his
" Floral Guide," has a valuable chapter
on Berry - bearing Plants, including the
English Holly, "Winter Berry (ilex ver-
ticillata), the Mountain Ash, Berberry,
Snow Berry or Snow Drop, the Bitter
Sweet, and the Strawberry Shrub or
Spindle-woods ( Euonymus latifolius).
There is, also, " Garden Work for In-
valids," "Winter Floral Decorations,"
a chapter on the beautiful Chautauque
Lake in New York State, and various
other useful and valuable chapters in
this splendid and instructive miscellany.

The Weeping Larch. — The European
Larch has long been known as one of
the most valuable timber and orna-
mental trees. It is extensively planted
on the Western prairies for timber, and
will doubtless prove to be of great value
to the inhabitants of those regions of
country. The variety of the Larix Eu-

ropcea, known as the Weeping Larch, is
a most graceful tree, with long, slender,
pendulous branches. In autumn the
leaves change to a beautiful golden
tint, affording a fine contrast with the
deep green of the Pines and evergreens
belonging to closely allied species.
Like the common Larch the weeping
variety is a deciduous tree, losing its
leaves in winter, but in spring the new
foliage assumes a bright, lustrous green,
seen in no other tree of its class. As
the tree becomes well established, cones
appear, and in spring their peculiar
violet color adds another charm to this
unique and beautiful tree.

To get En) of the Nest Cateepellab.
— These nuisances, whether nest cater-
pillars or measuring worms, or any oth-
er species of caterpillar which huddle
together in bunches or nests, may be
best got at by either using the Abe Lin-
coln swinging torch, which works at all
angles, and so burning them, or a bunch
of rags may be saturated with creosote,
lighted, and so scorched to death; or a
fowling-piece may be used with less
than a thimbleful of powder, which will
blow them all to pieces very easily.
The gun may be discharged at them by
holding it only in one hand. We have
destroyed great numbers of them in
both these latter ways, when we farmed
and gardened in Kentucky.

To Destkoy Dodder on Alfalfa. —
We have been informed by an experi-
enced party that a good plan to get rid
of this pest to Alfalfa is,- in the dry sea-
son, to build a fire with straw over the
spots of the dodder, and it will bum it
off and not injure the Alfalfa. It will
burn the top of the Alfalfa, but it will
grow up again readily. The best time
to perform this work is on calm days,
that the straw may not be blown away.

34

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

FRUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

In our last paper on pruning, in our
December number, we treated on the
subject of general pruning. "We will
now speak of summer pruning, wbich
is done chiefly with a view to the pro-
duction of fruitfulness in the tree at
that season. At the same time, or dur-
ing the growing season, much may be
done to advantage, both in thinning
out and shortening in such parts of the
tree as may need these plans of treat-
ment. Various methods are pursued
to produce fruitfulness, all of them de-
pending upon the fact that this condi-
tion arises from the natural habit of a
tree to make its wood-growth freely for
a series of years. After it has built up
a complicated structure of limbs and
branches, with some consequent ob-
struction to the flow of sap, depending
on the woody tissues, and the tortuous
course of its circulation, it then appears
to have reached its maturity, or its fruit
bearing condition. It then ceases to
make such free wood-growth, and pre-
pares a set of buds, which develop flow-
ers and fruit. Now, this period of
growth and unfruitfulness may contin-
ue for a longer or shorter time in differ-
ent varieties of fruits; and the shorten-
ing of this is the great object of summer
pruning, and of other methods of pro-
ducing fruitfulness that may be classed
under this second head of the objects of
pruning. To appreciate their import-
ance and the mode in which the effect
is produced, we must ever bear in mind
the two great acts of vegetable life, that
of wood-growth or growth by extension,
and the wonderful change of this
growth into flowers and fruit. These
are in some sense antagonistic. The
first is essential to the production of

timber, to the building of the tree, and
should be encouraged to do its work
undisturbed up to a certain point, that
we may have a substantial frame-work
by which our fruits can be supported.
The latter, however, is the ultimate de-
sideratum with fruit-growers, and in
our impatience to reap a quick reward,
we often resort to measures that tend
to curtail the usefulness, size, and
beauty, as well as the permanence, of
our trees. This is an illustration of the
axiom, that whatsoever threatens the
vitality of a plant tends to make it
fruitful; it calls into activity the in-
stinctive effort to perpetuate the spe-
cies by the production of seed, that
may be separated from the parent, and
establish a separate and independent ex-
istence, to take the place of that the
life of which is threatened.

Summer pruning and pinching inter-
feres with the growth by extension, and
threatens the very life of the tree; the
entire removal of all new shoots and
their foliage, and the removal of the
successive attempts by the tree at their
reproduction, will cause its death in a
little while. Their partial abstraction,
as practiced in summer pruning and
pinching, being an attack of the same
kind, results in the formation of fruit-
buds. The operations of budding and
grafting upon an uncongenial stock, in-
terrupting the circulation by ringing,
by ligatures, by hacking, twisting, and
bending downward, all tend to check
the growth by extension, and are at-
tended by similar results, since they
are antagonistic to the mere production
of wood. Shortening, in the branches
of some species which form their fruit-
buds upon the shoots of the current
year, has the effect to give them a fuller
development if performed during the
summer, but if deferred until the fol-
lowing spring, it will have the directly

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

35

opposite result, and will cause the pro-
duction of woody shoots at the expense
of the fruit. But we can not spare fur-
ther space in this number for this sub-
ject connected with fruit culture, and
will now take up our usual report on
our markets.

About the middle of last month (De-
cember) Strawberries were coming for-
ward daily, but the supply had for some
little time previous become very light.
Still we can inform our Eastern friends
that those who choose to do so can, no
doubt, regale themselves on Strawber-
ries and cream, or Strawberry short-
cake, on both Christmas and New Tear's
Day. They will not be so ripe and
delicious as in the fullness of their sea-
son, which lasts here from April to Sep-
tember, but, assisted by plenty of cream
and sugar and made within a covering
of good pastry, they will be apt to suit
the palate very well. At any rate, to
be able to tell our Eastern brethren
that we had Strawberries in any shape
of preparation during the holidays will
be something to feel proud of. The
first new crop of California Oranges ar-
rived from Los Angeles on the 16th ul-
timo. They were, it is true, too green
and sour, but being of good size met with
a fair demand. Sugar, too, is a great
help for them as well as half-ripe Straw-
berries. The market was well stocked
with Mexican Oranges and Limes, and
Californian, Australian, and Mediter-
ranean Lemons. The supply of Ba-
nanas was running low, but was re-
plenished by the steamer from Honolu-
lu. Pears became suddenly very scarce,
and the best sold as high as $4 per box,
wholesale. Apples could be had at
$1.50 to $2.50 by the single box. Late
Pears seem to have run shorter than
usual this year. The Winter Nelis,
one of our best Pears, are scarce.
Newtown Pippins are very large, juicy,

and good this season, and are the best
sort in market.

About the middle of December a few
Peppers, Lima and String Beans, Cu-
cumbers, and Tomatoes, of poor quality,
were all that remained of the long list
of summer vegetables. To compensate
for the deficiency, the market was
abundantly supplied with Mushrooms
from the Sacramento and San Joaquin
Valleys, and the usual profusion of the
regular winter assortment, including
Cabbage, Cauliflowers, Celery, Beets,
Carrots, Turnips, Radishes, Lettuce,
Asparagus, etc. The few Green Peas
in market were raised at Warm Springs,
Alameda County. Sweet Potatoes were
plentiful, but were neglected. Com-
mon Potatoes by the sack sold at SI. 50
to $2.25 per 100 pounds, delivered.
Asparagus retailed at 50c. to 60c;
Lima Beans, 8c. to 10c. ; Egg Plant,
8c. to 10c. ; Chile Peppers, lie. to 15c. ;
Rhubarb, 10c. to 12ijc; Horseradish,
15c. to 20c; "Marrowfat Squash, 2c to
3c; Artichokes, 75c to $1; Brussels
Sprouts, 6c to 8c; Dried Ochra, 40c
to 50c; Garlic, 12c to 15c per lb.;
Mushrooms, 15c for the wild, and 25c
per tb. for the cultivated variety.

California Raisins show to great ad-
vantage this year in the markets, being
most of them of superior quality, and
nearly, if not quite equal to the best
imported ones. They are put up in
nice boxes in much the same way as
the foreign fruit. This is likely to be-
come an important interest here, and
to rank highly with other undertakings
of the same kind, for which our soil and
climate are so very favorable.

On Christmas Day the fruit stalls
presented the following collection of
fruits : California-grown Apples, Pears,
Pomegranates, Strawberries; seven va-
rieties of Grapes — Mission, White and
Flame Tokay, Muscat, White Malaga,

36

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Black Morocco; Black Arabian, and
Verdelho; Oranges, Lemons, Limes,
and Medlars. Eastern-grown Cran-
berries; foreign-grown Oranges, Lem-
ons, Limes, Bananas, Pine-apples, Co-
coanuts, and Persimmons. Then there
was, also, a long list of vegetables
grown only about four miles from the
heart of the city.

Strawberries held out remarkably
well, and still came forward daily,
though in diminished quantities. The
markets were abundantly supplied with
many tropical fruits — Oranges, Lemons,
and Limes from Mexico — Bananas from
the Hawaiian Islands; Pine-apples and
Bananas from Panama, and [Lemons
from the Mediterranean and Australia.
California Oranges promise to be of ex-
cellent quality this season, but are yet
unripe and too sour to meet with ready
sale. The Mexican variety has the pre-
ference at present. Some choice showy
Lady Apples, largely used for decorat-
ing Christmas trees, were offered at 12J
and 15 cents. Other varieties of Ap-
ples, by the box, sold about Christmas-
time at $1.50 to $2.75. We copy the
following interesting article from the
Evening Bulletin:

"A gentleman residing in this city,
who is interested in its horticultural
progress, has just received a few speci-
mens of the Navel, Bahia or Seedless
Orange, from a Florida correspondent.
Some of them measure thirteen inches
in circumference. They were grown by
W. M. Newbold, of Putnam County,
Florida; and although they have been
eleven days on the way, passing in the
meantime through the icy zone of the
Rocky Mountains and the Sierra, they
arrived here in excellent condition.
The Navel Orange is a superior variety
of fruit. It was originated at Bahia,
Brazil, from which place it takes one of
its names. The tree is without thorns

and the fruit without seeds. Its intro-
duction into the United States is of re-
cent date. The variety has been intro-
duced to this State from Florida and
from Australia. In the latter country
it is grown extensively."

The vegetable stalls exhibited Green
Peas, String Beans, Cucumbers, and
Tomatoes in considerable quantities, in
addition to the ordinary winter varie-
ties. Asparagus and Rhubarb were to
be had at the old prices, but vegetables
generally were higher. Choice Pota-
toes were scarce, though the market
was overstocked with inferior kinds.
Good to choice sold by the single sack
at $2 to 2.25 per 100 lbs.

During Christmas week a large and
profitable business was done in fruit
and vegetables as well as in other things.
About the last of December the vegeta-
ble stalls were comparatively very spar-
ingly supplied with summer varieties.
Lima Beans had disappeared, and String
Beans and Green Peas were very scarce.
A few Cucumbers and Tomatoes could
still be obtained, but the quality was
very poor, and the supply soon gave
out.

No Strawberries had been received
for several days, and it is probable that
the frosty nights we have had put an end
to the supply until spring. California
Apples and Pears were very scarce, but
the market was well stocked by liberal
shipments from Oregon. Very choice
Italian Chestnuts were offered at the
Pacific Fruit Market at 50c. ; Pine Nuts
25c. per lb. Apples, by the single box,
sold at $1.50 to $2.50, delivered.

Beautiful Groups of Flowers in
Water Colors, and Carving in Wood.
— At Winter's picture establishment,
on Kearny Street, we had the pleasure
of examining several water-color paint-
ings by Miss O. E. Whitney, of New

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

37

York, and E. R. Campbell, of the same
city. They are all, by both these emi-
nent artists, in the highest style, color-
ing- and drawing of this most pleasing
department of art. Many of our gar-
den as well as a few of our Eastern and
Western wild-flowers are most delicate-
ly and at the same time boldly depicted.
The carving and truly natural coloring
of the splendid English pheasant, by
A. Pope, suspended in front of a hand-
somely painted grained panel work, is
calculated to deceive anyone in suppos-
ing it to be the bird itself handsomely
and skillfully stuffed by the the best
taxidermist.

Something about a Name. — A corre-
spondent asks for information about the
pilogyna suavis. We have never heard
of a plant under that name, and con-
fess our inability to give the required
information. It is, perhaps, a mistake
on the part of our correspondent.

^tutorial <Bta»ug0.

The Orange and Lemon in Martinez.
— Although the fact is well known that
Oranges, Lemons, and other fruits
formerly supposed to require a tropical
climate for their growth, have been suc-
cessfully cultivated in this vicinity, there
is a wide-spread idea that so much care
is demanded, so much shelter neces-
sary, and so many indispensable condi-
tions to be observed, that it is practi-
cally useless for any one to indulge in
the undertaking who is not well posted
in all the requisite and multifarious de-
tails. A ramble through the pleasant
grounds of the Messrs. Eish Brothers,
in this place, recently, gave us an op-
portunity to notice the imaginary char-
acter of these supposed difficulties.
Here are Orange and Lemon-trees, of
several varieties, of luxuriant growth,

in full bearing, with no extra shelter,
and receiving about the same amount
of care that is bestowed on the other
trees in the orchard. The localities
bordering on the bay are exempt from
the heavy frosts that have proved so de-
structive in the interior valleys, and no
danger from that source is to be appre-
hended. Here are also the Palm, the
Olive, and the Pine-apple, and and all
apparently in healthy and vigorous
growth. If all can not indulge in the
wealth of floral beauty that surrounds
the residence of the Messrs. Eish, we
hope the time is not far distant when
the beautiful foliage of the Orange and
Lemon will adorn the premises of every
householder who desires to make home
attractive, and the golden fruit fill the
air with its delicious fragrance. — Con-
tra Costa Gazette.

Potency oe Sunshine. — From an acorn
weighing a few grains, a tree will grow
for 100 years or more, not only throw-
ing off many pounds of leaves every
year, but itself weighing several tons.
If an Orange-twig is put in a large box
of earth, and that earth is weighed when
the twig becomes a tree, bearing lus-
cious fruit, there will be very nearly
the same amount of earth. From care-
ful experiments made by different scien-
tific men, it is an ascertained fact, that
a very large part of the growth of a
tree is derived from the sun, from the
air, and from water, and very little from
the earth; and notably, all vegetation
becomes sickly, unless it is freely ex-
posed to sunshine. Wood and coal are
but condensed sunshine, which con-
tain three important elements, equally
essential to both vegetable and animal
life — magnesia, lime and iron. It is the
iron in the blood which gives it its
sparkling red color and its strength; it
is the lime in the bones which gives

38

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICULTTJKIST.

thern. the durability necessary to bodily
vigor, while the magnesia is as impor-
tant to many of the tissues. Thus it is
that the more persons are out of doors,
the more healthy, the more vigorous,
they are, and the longer will they live.
Every human being ought to have an
hour or two of sunshine in winter, and
in the early forenoon in summer.

Action of Plants on Impure Water. —
At a recent meeting of the Societe Cen-
trale d'Horticulture de France, Jeannel
related the following experiments with
water containing putrid matter : — In the
month of May, sixty grammes of water
which had been used for steeping hari-
cots until it had become offensive, and
which the microscope showed to be full
of bacteria — small animalculae, supposed
to be the ordinary agents of putrifac-
tion — was placed in a glass, and the
root of a young growing plant plunged
therein. «An equal quantity of the same
water was placed beside it in a test glass
at the same time, without a root. The
water in the second glass remained in-
fected; that containing the living root,
on the contrary, was pure at the end of
the fourth day; all the bacteria had dis-
appeared, and had been replaced by
large infusorial animalculse of kinds
found only in potable water. Water
containing putrid meat was treated in
the same way, with the same results.
It was found that it was only necessary
to immerse the root of a living plant
therein for five days, to remove all the
ill odor and render the water pure and
sweet.

The Good Influence of Flowers. — A
parlor without a blossom in it in the
summer-time is apt to have a desert as-
pect, a want of life and cheer. For
wherever flowers are seen in one, there
is always as much sense of companion-

ship as if the little flower-people them-
selves came visibly with the flowers to
inhabit the house.

And perhaps in a way they do. For
certainly the delicate spirits of grace,
of gentleness, of taste, and beauty are
everywhere indicated where a dish of
flowers fills a table, where a vine adorns
a bracket, where a Rose blossoms in a
vase, with a mirror repeating and re-
fining it in fresh loveliness. We know
when we see these attempts at simple
decoration, be they ever so slight, that
there is some one in the house to whom
color and contour and fragrance ap-
peal; some one who loves nature as
much as upholstery, some one who
makes an effort after the ideal, the love
of flowers seeming so often to accom-
pany the finer traits, the sweetness and
quiet and pleasant habits that make a
home as happy as the flowers make it
beautiful.

That they do make home beautiful no
one will dispute, and a choice between
a room furnished in the simplest straw
and chintz, with plenty of fresh flowers
and vines about it, and a room gorgeous
with gilding and velvet and without a
blossom, is for the most of us, some-
thing-like a choice between a house of
light and one of lonely dreariness.

Ornamentation with Autumn Leaves.
— A very pretty way to ornament any
plain article of furniture, a cabinet or
paneled trinket, cupboard, boxes, jars,
trays, etc., is by the following simple
process : Having collected the ferns and
leaves in all their endless variety, pre-
pare them thus : Lay the leaves one by
one on a piece of soft paper, wrong
side up, and with a sharp j>enknife pare
off the projecting veins, so that there
will be as little roughness as possible,
then place them in books, with a heavy
weight, and press them smoothly, leav-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

39

ing them there until you are ready to
use them. Prepare the article by paint-
ing it black, using a fine brush for the
purpose, because it will leave fewer
traces. "When this is perfectly dry and
hard, give it a coat of fine transparent
varnish, and before it has become entire-
ly dry, lay on the leaves and fern sprays
in graceful groups, according to fancy,
pressing them smoothly down, so that
every part will adhere. When they are
entirely dry, give it another coat of the
same transparent varnish, going over the
whole surface, leaves and all. If you
wish to bronze the black ground in im-
itation of the Japanese lacquer ware, it
can be done by sprinkling a little bronze
powder over the sticky varnish after
putting on the leaves, then rubbing it
lightly with a soft rag to burnish it.
These ornamentations are both perma-
nent and effective. — Cabinet Maker.

Utilizing Pine -leaves. — We have al-
ready, in these columns, called atten-
tion to the fact that the Austrians had
discovered and were making large use
of a process for utilizing Pine - leaves,
or, " needles." And now, according
to the Scientific American, the' industry
bids fair to be put in the way of a prac-
tical trial in this country, by Mr. Chas.
Fulton, of New York. The coherent
parts of these acicular leaves are dis-
solved and removed by boiling in suita-
ble chemicals. The result is a sub-
stance resembling cotton, or perhaps
more nearly wool, of a dark greenish
brown color. It is prepared in four
qualities, adapted for stuffing mattress-
es, pillows, etc. , and for weaving. For
the latter purpose, the fibres of the ma-
terial are separated and treated in ma-
chines similar to fulling - mills. Other
processes follow, which result in the
production of an excellent thread, which
can be woven alone or mixed with wool,

cotton, silk, or other fibres. Cloth of
very close and fine texture is exhibited,
made of the thread. It is soft and pli^-
able, and resembles a fair quality of flan-
nel. There is an enormous amount of
raw material for this manufacture in the
country, which now is of no value, and
which can be obtained at simply the
cost of transportation. By the process
above described, it is rendered availa-
ble both for textile and for paper in-
dustries, and hence may form a new and
valuable supply.

Japanese Peksimmon. — When the at-
tempt was made to establish a Japanese
Colony and the cultivation of the tea
plant in California, we heard much of
the Japanese persimmon, which was
praised as a valuable fruit. Many
young tea and persimmon plants were
set out, but the tea experiments were
abandoned, and we heard nothing for
years of the Japanese persimmon; but
several of the trees, fortunately, fell in-
to the possession of W. W. Hollister,
of Santa Barbara, and they have now
commenced to bear, producing a fruit
shaped like a tomato, three inches in
diameter and two inches deep, with five
faintly marked lodes, brilliant orange in
color, with a skin as smooth and glossy
as glass. The appearance and flavor are
so fine that when numerous enough to
be sold in the market — and they may
not be for years — many will be bought
for curiosity and ornament. The Vir-
ginia persimmon, about which there has
been some talk of late, cannot compete

with the Japanese species. The three

year-old almond trees at Santa Barbara
have this year borne about 3^ pounds
each of almonds, on the average, while
the two-year-olds yielded about a quar-
ter of a pound. The crop on Col. Hoi-
lister's place amounted to 17,000
pounds — Alia.

40

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUKIST.

A Valuable Fibrous Plant. — AFrench
marsh plant, commonly known as the
Massette, and comprising three varie-
ties, is found to yield a fibre capable of
being utilized in a valuable way for
textile purposes. The plant grows in a
wild state and very abundantly, in
streams of water, ponds, etc., and
reaches to a height of some ten feet.
Heretofore it has been employed for
seating chair bottoms, for thatching,
etc., in the same manner as straw. The
mode of extracting the fibre from the
leaves, after the latter are cut and dried,
consists simply in boiling them for
several hours in an alkaline solution,
and afterward dressing them in a mill
or under rollers, the process being then
completed by washing. A yellowish
paper is made, worth about seven cents
per pound. The fibre will also prove
useful, it is thought, for fabrics and for
cordage, being considered equal to
hemp, flax, or jute.

A New Oleaginous Seed. — The Com-
mission of the Permanent Exposition of
the French colonies has lately called
the attention of Marseilles soap-makers
to a new source of oil, found in the
seed of the Carapa, which is a tree
abounding in immense forests in French
Guiana. Twice a year the tree pro-
duces an abundant harvest of seed,
which at certain times cover the earth
to a depth of four or five inches. These
immediately subjected to pressure give
thirty-five per cent, of their weight in
an excellent soap-making or illuminat-
ing oil.

Coal Ashes for Pear Trees. — Coal
ashes have a wonderfully vitalizing ef-
fect upon pear trees, especially those
'growing in light soil. Our ashes of last
winter were used around these trees in
liberal quantities, and those thus treat-

ed have outgrown anything else in the
orchard. Some that were even sickly,
and apparently ready to give up their
hold on life, have been restored to per-
fect health by this remedy. — Peninsular
News.

The annual Vegetable and Flower
Seed Catalogue of Gregory, the well-
known seedsman of Marblehead, Mass.,
is advertised in our columns. "We can
indorse Mr. Gregory as both honest
and reliable. The bare statement of
the fact that he grows so large a num-
ber of the varieties of seed he sells will
be appreciated by market gardeners,
and by all others who want to have
their seeds both fresh and true.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,
Fob the Month ending Decembee 31, 1875.

(Prepared for The Hobticultueist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
423 Washington Street, near the Post Office) .

BABOMETEB.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.19 "in.

do 12m 30.19

do 3 p. m 30.18

do 6p.m 30.18

Highest point on 31st, at 9 a. m 30.32

Lowest point on the 28th, at 3 and 6 p. si 29.90

THEBMOMETEB.
( With north exposure and free, from reflected heat. J

Mean height at 9 a. m 50°

do 12 m 53'J

do 3 p.m 54°

do 6 P. m 50°

Highest point on 1st, at 12 m. and 3 p.m 64c

Lowest point on the 18th at 9 a.m 41°

SELF-BEGISTEEING THEBMOMETEB.

Mean height during the night 44°

Highest point at sunrise on the 1st 56°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 18th and 19th 38°

WINDS.
North and north-east on 17 days; north-west on 4 days;
south-east on 5 days; south-west on 5 days.

WEATHEE.
Clear all day 10 days; cloudy all day 10 days; variable
on 11 days.

BAIN GAUGE. Inches.

1st 0.19

3d 0.46

18th 0.06

19th 0.25

24th 0.53

25th 0.08

26th 2.10

27th 0.06

28th 1.22

31st 0.13

Total 3.08

Previously reported 6-95

Total for the season 10.03

Weigelia Rosea. Moss Rose. Persian Yellow Rose.

Engraved on Wood, and printed in Colors by Geo. Frauenbergek, Rocltesttr, N.7.

THE

llfii

AND FLORAL MAGAZII

Vol. VI. SAN FRANCISCO, FEBRUARY, 1876. No. 2.

A SEVERE WINTER SEASON.

BY F. A. MILLEE.

Our mild and pleasant winter months
have become proverbial at home and
abroad, and although flowers in the
month of January are usually scarce,
one can always manage to make up a
bouquet from the garden. For five
yeai's past frosts have become more se-
vere from year to year, and Certain
plants have suffered most severely in
and out of doors, while others were
killed outright. The present season,
however, is perhaps the coldest we have
experienced since the country was set-
tled. It is not my object here to spec-
ulate on the probable causes of these
atmospheric changes, which, in all
probability, may be traced back partly
to the destruction of our forests, or to
the march of civilization and its una-
voidable consequences. This is a prob-
lem which science must solve. To us
gardeners such cold spells as we have
experienced within the last four weeks
are worthy of particular notice and con-
sideration. "While we might feel in-
different to the freezing of Cinerarias
and other tender herbaceous plants,
and perhaps be a little vexed at the de-

Vol. VI.— i.

struction of Heliotropes and Nastur-
tiums, we can hardly avoid feeling mor-
tified at the loss of such shrubs as Oes-
trum aurantiacum, Habrofhamnus elegans,
Tecoma capensis, Plumbago, and others
which have been considered perfectly
hardy about San Francisco. If this is
to be repeated, we may just as well
make up our mind that our usual list of
" Hardy Shrubs " must be reduced to a
much smaller number, or we must use
more precaution in their cultivation or
protection. While some of our people
may feel discouraged in the cultivation
of plants in their gardens, which are
not thoroughly hardy, I would suggest
that a proper mode of cultivation
would greatly lessen the chances of los-
ing certain plants by such frosts as we
have had lately. I have frequently ob-
served that the growing of plants is
forced to such an extent by over water-
ing throughout the summer season and
late into the autumn, that a large
amount of young and weak shoots are
produced, unable to withstand a mod-
erate frost, nor is the plant itself in con-
dition to hold out. To this is added
the unfortunate practice of fall pruning,
which in this climate has the effect of
producing new and tender shoots al-

42

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

most instantly, which are certainly not
capable of enduring heavy frost. In
speaking of over watering plants in the
garden, I should also add that such
practice is most dangerous for the
soil itself, which must become sour and
poisonous to plant life. In a number
of cases where my attention has been
called to sickness of Roses and other
plants, I found that the roots were de-
cayed from the very effect of over wa-
tering, and the soil was alive with slugs
and worms, which are always encour-
aged by a superabundance of moisture.
When this excessive watering has been
resorted to for five, ten, or fifteen years,
without provision for drainage or a
thorough replenishment of the soil,
what can be expected of plants subject
to such conditions? If growth is pro-
duced, it can not be of a healthy nat-
ure, and unhealthy growth is easier af-
fected by frost, than sound wood, and
far less liable to injury if the wood is
allowed to harden.

But heavy frosts also tell heavily on
tender plants cultivated under glass,
and our practice to do without artificial
heat can not be relied upon any more
with safety. We may keep some of the
more hardy greenhouse plants alive dur-
ing our winter months without fire-heat,
but we can not expect them to grow
luxuriantly and flower well without the
aid of artificial heat. When the ther-
mometer falls to thirty-six degrees, as
it did several times during last January
under glass, Camellias and Azaleas will
not suffer, but such as Begonias, Bou-
vardias, Primroses, and nearly all soft-
wooded plants will receive a serious
check, if not a detrimental blow. Cut
flowers are now so scarce that not one-
half of the demand can be supplied, and
the flowers offered are of very inferior
quality. No city, perhaps, of equal
size can boast of as many little green-

houses and conservatories as can San
Francisco and its surroundings, in
which plants of delicate nature are cul-
tivated, and to many of these amateurs
the construction of a heating apparatus
and the consumption of fuel will be a
great burden, yet we can not deny the
fact that it will be very difficult, yes,
almost impossible, to nurse the more
tender plants through frosty weather.
In this case I would also strongly urge
to keep plants dry during winter, and
give air whenever the weather permits,
in order to harden the plants, and to
make them less liable to injury from
cold or extremely wet weather. It is a
wrong practice to shift small plants into
large pots during autumn or winter,
when the roots are inactive. Watering
such plants in winter is almost death to
them. The water in use here is not of
the best quality for plants, containing
impurities detrimental to plant life.
Boiled water used in a warm state will
be very beneficial to plants, particularly
during winter.

FISH LIFE AND GEOWTH — NATUEAL

SCENEEY IN ANGLING A HELP TO

THE LOVE OF HOETICULTUEE.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

The reason that we have given sever-
al times for introducing the subject of
angling in a magazine of horticulture
is, that there is spread around the fish-
erman, generally, in his piscatorial ex-
cursions, that most delightful and in-
teresting book of nature, in trees,
shrubs, and flowers, that he can not fail
to take great pleasure in perusing, and
by so doing he is apt to become a nat-
uralist, if not actually a horticulturist.
In our mild and genial California cli-
mate we can fish, at any rate in our
ocean and bays, all the year round.
Still, although we are not, like the

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

43

Eastern portion of the States, sealed up
in winter by snow and ice, we have just
sufficient of cold, and sometimes long
rainy weather too, to be pleased when
the spring- puts forth, even here, its
sweet vernal power, and the yellow-
colored and turbid streams slacken their
volume of water, the buds on the trees
swell and the leaves burst forth, the
flowers grow into bloom almost as we
look upon them, the birds utter their
charming notes, the sportive lambs and
the timid hares play, and mark the
changes which even the comparatively
almost uniform climate of this coast as-
sumes. But we must now pay attention
to our caption — "Fish Life and Growth"
— upon which we intended to treat.
The creatures' forming this department
in natural history are not only highly
important as furnishing us material for
wholesome food, but also for the pro-
motion of exercise and health in a ra-
tional and pleasing recreation in their
capture. Some remarks, therefore,
concerning this fourth class of verte-
brate animals may be here not unac-
ceptable to many of our readers. We
are all sensible how beautiful fish are
as regards form and color. There are
comparatively few persons notwith-
standing, who have an opportunity of
seeing them at the moment of their
greatest brilliancy — namely, just when
they are brought out of the water. We
allude more particularly to some of our
sea- fish — as the herring, mackerel,
salmon, etc. What, for instance, can
surpass the silvery brightness and dor-
sal shades of green and blue which ap-
pear in the specimens of the grilse or
young salmon — some call them (erro-
roneously, we think) salmon -trout —
which are now being daily taken by an-
glers on the Oakland long wharf. The
form, too, of these fish is as perfect and
graceful, if not more so, than can be

found in any inhabitants of the water.
The moment a fish is taken from its
own element its form alters and its del-
icate hues fade; and, also, in different
localities fish have, like the chameleon,
different colors, so that it will almost defy
the greatest artist — even our Brookes —
to paint these fish so accurately as to
catch the rapidly-fleeting tints of the
animal. What a wondrous pantomimic
mixture of glancing of silver, and blue,
and green, blended into one great burn-
ing glow of harmonious color, lighted
into brilliant life by the sun, do these
same young salmon (by some called sil-
ver trout or salmon) of the Oakland
wharf point, present to the enraptured
eyes of their captors! The motion of
most fish is excessively rapid — especial-
ly the salmon tribe ; they can dash
along in the water with lightning-like
velocity; perhaps the seal can. alone
surpass them in this respect, which
makes them such formidable enemies
even to the swift salmon. A fish when
in the water has very little weight to
support, as its specific gravity is about
the same as that of the water in which
it lives, and the bodies of these animals
are so flexible as to aid them in all their
movements, while the various fins as-
sist either in balancing the body or in
helping it to progress. Fish of all
kinds are evidently admirably adapted
to their mode of life and the place
where they live, as, for example, in a
cave — the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky,
where light has never entered — there
have been found fish without eyes.
Fish are considered, by the best judges
in science, to be nearly insensible to
pain, and are cold-blooded, their blood
being only two degrees warmer than
the element in which they swim. It is,
likewise, worthy of being noted that
fish have small brains in comparison
to the size of their bodies. So far as

44

THE CALIFOENIA HOBTICULTUBIST.

the personal knowledge of many close
observers goes, it is believed that the
senses of sight and hearing are well de-
veloped in most fish, as also those of
smell and taste, particularly the sense
of smell, which chiefly guides them to
their food. We may, indeed, take it
for granted that fish have a very keen
sense of smell — more so than most oth-
er animals; and thus it is that strong-
smelling baits are so successful in fish-
ing. Salmon-roe, which has a strong
scent, is a deadly bait in most waters,
but fishing with salmon-roe in the East
and in Europe is now illegal, and it
ought to be so here. It has been said
by some naturalists that fish do not
hear well, but that assertion is contrary
to the experience of many practical
men, for pet fish have been summoned
by means of a bell, and trout have been
whistled to their food like dogs. Wa-
ter is an excellent conductor of sound;
it conveys a noise of any kind to a
greater distance, and at nearly as great
a speed as air. We are of opinion that
the great noise and vibration of the
trains on Oakland wharf has some ef-
fect on the salmon near by, so as par-
tially to frighten them off during the
time while the cars are running, but
probably the fish soon return to their
haunts. Most fish — especially the
game fish — are voracious feeders, and
prey upon each other without the
slightest ceremony; and one of the
greatest difficulties of the angler is ex-
perienced after the fish have had a good
feed of young fishes or what not, when
even the most practiced artist with his
most seductive bait will not induce
them to nibble, far less to bite. How
often do we seem to experience this in
our bay, many disappointed fishermen
can readily and painfully aver. Many
of our fish — as the salmon — have a di-
gestion so rapid as only to be conrp ara-

ble to the action of fire, and in good
feeding grounds — the ocean, for in-
stance— the growth of a fish usually
corresponds to its powers of eating.

There are many facts of fish life that
have yet to be ascertained. Beyond a
knowledge of mere generalities, the an-
imal kingdom of the sea is almost a
sealed book. The salmon is the one
particular fish that has as yet been com-
pelled to render up to those inquiring
the secret of its birth and the ratio of
its growth. We have imprisoned this
valuable fish in artificial ponds, and by
robbing it of its eggs have noted when
the young ones were born and how they
grow. In consequence of its migratory
instinct, we have access to it at those
seasons of its life when to observe its
habits is the certain road to informa-
tion. Among many controversies con-
cerning it are the kind of food it eats,
how long it remains in the salt water,
and whether it makes one or two voy-
ages to the sea per annum. There has
also been a grilse controversy as well as
a rate of growth dispute. A most re-
markable fact in the history of the
grilse or young salmon is, that we kill
them in thousands before they have an
opportunity of perpetuating their kind.
With regard to their growth in Scotland
grilses, about four pounds weight, that
had spawned, were marked with copper
wire rings in their fins to ascertain the
rate of their growth in salt water. Aft-
er their journey to sea and back again
it was found that the four-pound grilses
had grown into beautiful salmon, vary-
ing from nine to fourteen pounds. This
was repeated for several years, and, on
the whole, the results were found the
same. The majority returned in about
eight weeks, and they invariably re-
turned salmon. Food is not often
found in the stomachs of salmon. But
in some few cases, when fish caught on

THE CALIFOKNIA HOBTICITLTTJKIST.

45

Oakland wharf were opened, young
fish, and shrimps were found, some in a
partly digested, and others in a wholly
undigested state. The rapid growth of
the salmon (some say that it grows at
sea a pound in six weeks, at least)
seems to imply that its digestion must
be rapid, and accounts, perhaps, for
food being so seldom found in its stom-
ach. Salmon attain to a very large
size on this coast. It is quite possible
that our salmon on this slope make two
voyages in each year to the sea; but
sometimes, although it can swim with
great rapidity, it takes many weeks to
accomplish its journey, because of the
condition of the rivers. If there is not
sufficient water to flood the course, the
fish have to remain in the various pools
till the state of the water admits of their
proceeding on their journey either to or
from the ocean. Millions of fish, how-
ever, are lost before they get to the sea
in our rivers. One thing is certain,
that salmon can exist perfectly well,
with the exception of growing so large,
in fresh water. This has been tested
satisfactorily in Lakes Merced and San
Andreas. Parr, or one-year old fish,
are stated by good authority to die
when placed in contact with the sea-
water. To conclude, why should we
not cultivate our waters as we cultivate
our land? Our checks, by law, to the
annual destruction of salmon and grilse,
at certain seasons of the year by nes-
ting, are very important and salutary.
At any rate, our artificial breeding sup-
plies much the deficiency by any un-
lawful or lawful slaughter of the inno-
cents. By means of pisciculture the
French people have recreated their fish-
eries. Happily we are commencing
now the same most desirable process.
Let us by all means clean our rivers by
removing impurities and obstacles of
all kinds. Let us do our best to pre-

vent poaching. Let us legislate so that
there be no more nets among the Chi-
nese, Italian and Spanish fishermen with
meshes less than an inch and a half, or
wider, if necessary. And, as eveiy lit-
tle helps, let us destroy in part, at least,
the sea-lions, which are so well known
to devour tons upon tons of fish, at the
mouth of the bay. But we at all events
trust that the Committee on the Fisher-
ies appointed by the Legislature will
fully perform their duty.

EARTHQUAKES.

BY NATUBiilST.

That these vibrations, or earthquakes,
are in many cases very clearly connect-
ed with volcanoes — that they precede,
accompany, or follow volcanic eruptions
— and that the cessation of ordinary
volcanic action is very generally suc-
ceeded, as in the neighborhoods of
iEtna and Vesuvius, after a longer or
shorter interval, by an earthquake,
there is no doubt. On the other hand,
it is equally certain that earthquakes
sometimes originate and are chiefly felt
in countries, as in California, where
there are no volcanoes, and where all
varieties of volcanic rock (though this
is not the case here) are absent. They
are therefore phenomena that require
separate consideration.

An earthquake is the result of a vi-
bration or concussion produced within
the earth by some explosive force. It
must originate in a comparative small
area, and the chief force of the explo-
sion must expend itself in that area.
The area disturbed may be one of a
series of cavities having great linear ex-
tension, or it may be part of a large dis-
trict of any form, in which are numer-
ous cavities or spaces more or less iso-
lated. The explosion may be single, or

46

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

it may be repeated many times. It may
be yery sudden and rapid, and of ex-
treme violence, or it may be less rapid,
and tbe force produced may tend more
toward upheaval than fracture. The
force, however, must act in a way not
unlike that of gunpowder exploded in a
mine, or steam bursting a boiler.

Where they are felt at the earth's
surface, earthquakes are of three kinds
— undulatory, perpendicular, and hori-
zontal; the latter frequently appearing
to be rotary or vortical. The first are
the most common and the least mis-
chievous; these seem to be the charac-
ter, generally, of our tremors or con-
vulsions on this coast. The second,
much more rare, are far more destruct-
ive. The third are altogether excep-
tional; but when they occur in the
neighborhood of towns they are alto-
gether unparalleled in the disastrous
catastrophes and the appalling loss of
life that accompany them. The first
are mere undulations, heaving the
ground at any one place upward, and
sinking it mostly rather gently down-
ward, and producing the same or near-
ly the same result at a great many pla-
ces along a certain definite course on the
earth's surface. The second resemble
the explosion of a mine; they consist of
a sudden upheaval — a thrust upward —
but with no undulation. The third are
complicated, including a direct and
sudden upheaval, with an advancing
wave, either of the earth or ocean, and
this complication produces a mixed mo-
tion, like that of a steamer advancing
through a cross sea. We need not give
an account of the greater earthquakes
in various parts of the world, as they
are well known to all. Earthquakes
are sometimes preceded or accompan-
ied by a peculiar state of the air and
weather, by rolling, detonating, and
other noises, and by marked electrical

phenomena. The kind of noise that oc-
curs is different in different places.
Frequently it is a rolling, rumbling
sound, like the moving of heavily load-
ed wagons over a hard or frosty road,
although it may be in summer, as we
once experienced in Kentucky, when,
about 10 o'clock p. m., we were shaken
for a few moments in our bed by one or
two slight shocks. Sometimes it is like
the clanking of chains; sometimes it re-
sembles thunder close at hand; and
now and then it has been described as
clear and ringing, as if obsidian or oth-
er vitrified masses clashed together, or
were shattered in subterranean cavities.
The vibration is sometimes beneath the
sea. Earthquakes are much more wide-
ly felt and more numerous than volcan-
ic eruptions. We have bands of earth-
quake movement reaching from Japan
through the Kurile Islands to Kamt-
chatka; and on the shores opposite are
those of the Rocky Mountains and Cali-
fornia, Mexico and the South American
Andes, whose influence is felt on the
oceanic rather than on the land side of
the chain, owing to the compression of
the mass of the land checking the wave.
There seems a preponderance of earth-
quake action in the temperate and tor-
rid zones on both sides of the equator.
There are recorded between 6,000 and
7,000 separate earthquakes over every
part of the known globe, both on land
-Jnd ocean. About 8 in every 600 of
those recorded were so destructive as to
reduce cities and towns to rubbish, and
destroy much human and animal life.
There have been upon an average
about sixty earthquakes per annum, or
rather more than one every week. Of
great earthquake disasters there has
been on an average one every eight
months. In North America there are
recorded 134 earthquakes; 86 of these
took place in winter and 48 in summer.

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

47

The totals of winter and autumn are
equal to those of spring and summer.

With regard to earthquakes in Cali-
fornia, it is not, according to Dr. Trask,
to be presumed that a greater frequen-
cy of shocks have occurred here than
in some other parts of the earth, but
that the same attention has not been
bestowed in recording their occurrence
in other countries, where they are known
to be much more frequent and severe
than upon our coast.

There is no good reason for the sup-
position that we are in more danger
from these phenomena than upon the
Atlantic border. Indeed, within a year
or two they have experienced in the
East as many shocks, at least, as we
have; the reason of this being so is,
that we are so far removed from the
centre of immediate and volcanic action,
that it would require dangerous tension
of the imagination to place California
within the range of those physical
causes which are so conducive to vio-
lent, repeated, and destructive shocks.
This State can not be considered more
subject to earthquakes than it is to
volcanoes, relatively, and this is said,
too, in the face of our own records re-
lating to the former. We need have
very little fear from these disturbances,
so long as we are so far removed on
either hand from the great centres, and
even from the terminal points of those
centres of volcanic disturbance, from
the action of which such disastrous
consequences have therefore followed
to their immediate districts. From
careful inquiry of the early settlers by
scientific persons, they have not been
able to learn that any more than three
or four earthqukes have occurred here
which were in any considerable degree
of a serious character, and but two of
which have caused the destruction of
either life or property to any extent.

The earthquake of 1812 was the most
serious; then about thirty to forty-five
lives were lost. That of October, 1868,
was much less serious, and but very few
lives were lost. The winter months
have given the largest number of shocks
in the aggregate. The summer months
the smallest. The autumn rather more
than the spring months.

HISTOKY AND CULTURE OF ALFALFA.

BX E. J. TBUMBULL. OF THIS CITY.

Alfalfa, Lucerne (medicago saliva). —
This plant was cultivated in Greece 500
years before Christ, having been brought
from Media. Later it was extensively
cultivated by the Romans, and, through
them, introduced into France. Bui by
whom it was introduced into Chile is
not known positively. Its cultivation
there, at present, is very extensive, and
in the pampas of Buenos Ayres it grows
wild in the utmost luxuriance. From
Chile it was brought to California,
where it has proved itself the most val-
uable of all forage plants. In Europe
it is known as Lucerne, and on the Pa-
cific Coast as Alfalfa. There is no
doubt that originally they were the
same, but the modifications of climate
have so affected what we know or style
Alfalfa that it may now be regarded as
a distinct variety. It sends down its
tap-roots in mellow soils to great depths,
having been found in sandy soils fifteen
feet in length — far below the reach of
drought. The flowers are a pale blue,
violet or purple. Its seed is larger
than red clover, and more of it is re-
quired to the acre. When the seed is
ripe, it is yellow, plump and heavy; if
unripe, it is small, and of a greenish
hue; and if blighted or blasted, it is a
dark brown. ef When properly man-
aged, the number of cattle which can

48

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

be kept in good condition on an acre of
Alfalfa, during the whole season, al-
most exceeds belief." Twenty to twen-
ty-five sheep are not considered too
many to the acre when well established.
The quantity of hay produced varies
very much, as all soils are not equally
adapted to it, nor are all growers of it
equally careful in its culture, but we
are warranted in saying that an acre
will produce from six to sixteen tons of
hay in a season. From experiments
made in the Eastern States by many
persons to whom we have sent samples
of the seed, we are convinced that it is
quite hardy.

Selection of Soil. — We are satisfied
that many attempts which have been
made to grow Alfalfa, and which proved
failures, are to be attributed to the selec-
tion of improper soil. Thin soils and
compact clay soils should be avoided,
for in neither will it succeed to satisfac-
tion. It will succeed, however, in a
light soil which has a permeable subsoil
consisting of loam, or sand, or gravel,
into which its roots can penetrate and
imbibe the moisture and nutriment
found far -below the reach of other
plants. For Alfalfa a suitable subsoil
is of the utmost importance. A com-
parative shallow soil will do for the
short-lived, red clover, but Alfalfa,
which, if properly managed, will yield
abundantly for twenty-five years at least,
should have a soil that will offer no
hindrance to the extension of its roots.

Culture. — Thoroughly mellow and
prepare the soil by clean and careful
tillage. Have one plow follow the oth-
er, and this done in the most thorough
manner. Harrow smooth and fine.
Sow, in California, twenty pounds of
good, clean seed to the acre. In our
opinion, sixteen pounds is sufficient in
the States east of the mountains, for
they are favored with continuous mois-

ture, which tends to make the plant
more bushy and fully cover the ground.
The seed should be "bushed in," and
a light roller passed over to properly
imbed it. In Central and Southern
California, the seed may be sown dur-
ing the fall and early spring. In the
Eastern and other States, subject to
severe winter weather, it should not be
sown till all danger of frost is passed
in spring. Alfalfa should be cut as
soon as it begins to flower or even a lit-
tle earlier; if cut much earlier, it is apt
to be too watery and less nutritious; if
later, it becomes coarse and hard, and
is less relished by cattle. In no event
should it be allowed "to go to seed"
the first season, as the tendency is to
materially weaken the plant. Strange
as it may seem, the growing of Alfalfa
improves rather than exhausts the soil.
This, like other leguminous, broad-
leaved plants, derive much of their nu-
trition from the atmosphere, and the
vast quantity of roots which are left in
the soil when it is at last broken up
very greatly increases its fertility. As
a fertilizer, it stands at the head of the
list. It may be exterminated at any
time by simply plowing thoroughly,
and removing the crowns to some con-
venient place where they can remain till
burned or rotted.

ENCOURAGE THE BIEDS.

We have recently noticed in a few of
our exchanges suggestions that the in-
troduction of some varieties of singing
birds from the East would be an ex-
periment worth trying, and also state-
ments that Eastern quails and prairie
chickens had already been imported
and turned loose in certain portions of
the State with encouraging results.
These suggestions and facts merit more
attention than they have yet received.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

49

Not that the introduction of game-
birds is particularly desirable at pres-
ent, for we now furnish to sportsmen a
better field than they can find else-
where in the country, and farmers are
often troubled now, as were once the
Israelites in the desert, by an overabund-
ance of quails. All the birds belonging
to the family of which the prairie chick-
en and quail are prominent members
are almost wholly granivorous, and,
when occurring in a country like this,
which offers so few drawbacks to their
rapid propagation, and furnishes such
abundant food in broad acres of grain,
soon become great nuisances. During
the comparatively few years since the
settlement of this State, the California
quails have increased so rapidly that
only the annual slaughter in the fall
keeps them within bounds, and if to
them are added legions of prairie chick-
ens and " Bob Whites," our farmers
will soon be obliged to expend a good
share of their yearly profits in buying
powder and shot to rout these feather-
ed invaders. The sportsman has his
claims, of course, and laws for the pro-
tection of game can not be too strin-
gent, but the farmer's rights are para-
mount, and if any one is to give way it
must be the non-producer rather than
the producer. The time will come to
this State, as it has to nearly every oth-
er in the country, when the introduc-
tion of game-birds will be advisable, but
it is not yet.

With the introduction of the other
class, the singing-birds, the subject as-
sumes a different light. California is
very deficient in singing- birds, and
every one who delights in the music of
nature — and who does not? — would re-
joice, to see their number increased.
Yet the farmer requires other reasons
than aesthetic ones before he clamors
for their introduction; he wants to see

some material result of the proposed
movement, some argument which ap-
peals to his pocket as well as to his
heart. Well, here he has it. The
song-birds of the world, almost without
exception, are insectivorous, and their
numbers are largest and their songs
sweetest where there is the greatest
abundance of bugs and worms. When
the problem of irrigation is solved —
and it seems likely to be soon — the ne-
cessity of encouraging our own insecti-
vorous birds, and introducing others
from the East, will become imperative.
There seems to be little connection be-
tween the two, but they will be found
to be intimately related. For Nature's
grand law is that of compensation, and
no sooner are our many barren fields
rendered fertile and rich with abund-
ant crops, than she will send upon them
all manner of winged and creeping and
six-legged abominations, which will de-
vour the grain and blight the tender
vegetables, and blast the juicy fruits,
and drive the tiller of the soil to his
wits' end to keep them under. In this
strait he will call upon the birds, for,
with all his boasting of supremacy over
the lower animals, man has never yet
been able to cope successfully with the
least of them, the insects; but he will
call in vain if he depends upon the few
native varieties. That evil day is sure
to come; so, forewarned, let him be
forearmed, and lose no time in bringing
into his fields the cat-birds, the thrush-
es, the fly-catchers, and the countless
other varieties which so assist the East-
ern farmer, as well as delight him by
their graceful presence and sweet song.
But to insure their continuance with
him he must provide for them by do-
nating to them a useless grove or two,
a moist thicket and a tangled cluster of
vines, where they may nest and breed;
but this small sacrifice of land will

50

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

bring him in a larger percentage of
profits than all his broad, rich acres.

Yet a random gathering together of
Eastern birds is not all that is neces-
sary; some discrimination is needed in
the selection, or the farmer's last state
is worse than the first. Above all, let
him beware of the English sparrow,
that feathered pest which might reason-
ably have been the eleventh plague of
Egypt, had not Pharaoh succumbed at
the tenth, and which has already ap-
peared, in small quantities, in this
State. Whoever introduced it into this
country was either wholly unacquaint-
ed with the characteristics of the vari-
ous classes of birds, or else he employ-
ed this method of satisfying a grudge
against our agriculturists, all of whom
with any experience of the bird in
question pray that his memory may be
accursed. About New York, where
they were first introduced to destroy
the canker worms which were stripping
the trees in the public parks, they turn-
ed from their allotted work, and de-
scended like locusts upon the market-
gardens and the orchards of small
fruits, and devastated them so rapidly
and fearlessly that .the papers were full
of howls from agonized horticulturists
desiring information as to how they
should save their property — for the as-
tute Solons of the Legislature had pro-
hibited the slaughter of the birds under
heavy penalties — while the canker
worms held high carnival, as if there
wasn't a sparrow in the country. A
half hour's study of ornithology would
have shown the first advocate of the in-
troduction of these birds|that they, like
nearly all sparrows, wouldn't eat bugs
and worms while they could get grain
and fruit; but he had never considered
the subject, and the loss of thousands
of dollars a year is the result. Besides
all this, they raise four or five broods a

year, and the parent birds of springtime
are grandparents, at least, by fall, and,
being of a very quarrelsome disposition,
no other bird can live near them. So,
beware, we say, of the English sparrow,
but introduce and encourage the many
valuable birds which could be brought
from the East, and an increased pro-
duction of crops and a farm free from
the inroads of noxious insects will quite
repay the trouble and expense, even if
the songs of the birds, which are great
educators of humanity and kindliness,
are not taken into account. — Bulletin.

FABLES AND FLOWEES.

The historic and fairy mysteries con-
nected with flowers are many and sweet.
From time immemorial they have been
the elfin wee, and the cups from which
fairies have sipped dewdrops; beneath
the concealment of their leaves mis-
chievous brownies have hidden, only
venturing forth to perpetrate some of
the tricks and bewitching frolics which
they have plotted in their sweet homes,
where, one would suppose, gentle deeds
would be inspired.

A few of the lovelier meanings and
more interesting facts respecting flow-
ers I offer you, gleaned from many
sources — a wild and mingled poesy —
but the perfume of fields and woods
may still cling to them, and if so I need
offer no apology for its scantiness or
crudeness.

We can never weary of the beautiful
and ancient fable of Anemone. Venus
loved the beautiful youth Adonis. As
she was with him in the forest one day,
he perceived a wild boar, and, despite
her entreaties, gave it chase and drew
his bow. The arrow hit its mark, but
the infuriated beast, only stopping to
draw the dart from his side, turned
upon Adonis and gave him his death

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

51

wound. Venus heard his cries as she
was floating through the air in her
chariot toward Olympus; she turned
back, and hastened to the spot where
Adonis lay. In despair, as she sees
him dying, she lifts her hand in sup-
plication, the finger-tips reddened with
his heart's blood. A zephyr comes and
wafts the ruby drops to the earth, and
there springs up the delicate Anemone,
the wild flower.

Too closely allied with the goddess of
beauty that it should be omitted, is the
history of the red Rose. As Venus flew
through the woods to her wounded
Adonis, a treacherous thorn pierced
her foot, and the blood which flowed
fell on a white Rose, which ever after
retained the hue.

The sorrowful story of Narcissus
causes us to regard that pale flower
with sadness — the poor foolish youth
who fell in love with his own image,
which he saw reflected in the clear, de-
ceptive waters as he reclined on a mossy
bank at the brookside. Yearning after
this mythical being, whom he could
never find except at the brooklet, and
who would never address even one
word to him, he wasted away with sor-
row and weeping, until all that remain-
ed of the poor youth was the pale Nar-
cissus.

There is the Poppy, which is said to
grow at the entrance of the Palace of
Sleep; and the beautiful Hyacinth, me-
mento of the dead youth Hyacinthus,
whom Apollo loved.

The Rose has many legends connect-
ed with it, and was the best loved flow-
er of the ancients. Wreaths of Roses
always encircled their wine cups at
feasts, as they believed the presence of
this lovely flower dissipated the intoxi-
cating property of the red wine.

Margaret of Anjou, the fair young
queen, glorified the beautiful Daisy

when she left France to become the
bride of Henry. She took it as her em-
blem, as suited to her extreme youth,
and, we may add, loveliness. In her
honor all the nobility of France wore it
emblazoned on their crests, and the
king added it to the decorations of his
crown. The Marguerite may have de-
rived its name from the fact also.

Of the wee Forget-me-not, the flower
of heaven's hue, we have pretty tales.
A lofty Plantagenet did not deem this
floweret too lowly to adorn his crest;
and he, it is held by many, first endow-
ed it with its poetical name. As he
was about to leave France and claim
his English throne, he had a spray of
this flower emblazoned on his shield,
and caused his initials to signify in re-
gard to it, Souvenez-vous de moi — for-
get-me-not. The G-erman maiden,
while standing at a brook-side with her
lover, longs for the flower blooming on
the opposite side of the stream; he
plunges into the water to gratify her
half-spoken wish, procures the cluster
of flowers, and just as he would regain
the shore where she stands waiting, his
strength fails; with one desperate effort
he casts the flower upon the bank, and,
dying, prays, "Forget-me-not." Maid-
ens' tears we read in this sweet flower.

The Thistle is a sturdy flower, by
many greatly despised; still, we should
not look alone at its rough setting, but
at the royal amethystine heart. Many
years ago a powerful enemy invaded
Scotland. Having planned to surprise
the Scottish forces at night, they re-
moved their boots that they might ap-
proach the sleeping garrison more
stealthily. When near the encamp-
ment, one of the foe stepped on a this-'
tie; he cried out loudly with the pain,
aroused the camp, and Scotland was
saved. No wonder they adopted it as
their national emblem.

52

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

AFTER THE RAIN — A CALIFORNIAN
PICTURE.

BY MES. E. A. S. PAGE.

"When the hills are growing green
Where the insatiate drought has been,
How the grand, resistless forces

Of the earth, and sun, and sky,
Nature wields, like some magician,

To revive and beautify !

Then the wild and turbulent rains
Wash away the grime and stains,
Till the dun and sullen landscape

Wears a loveliness untold,
Like some gem of rare old painter

Brought to light from dust and mold.

Then the humid atmosphere
Takes all hues, compact or clear;
Pearl-gray clouds like quarried snow-drifts,

Violet haze where waters glide ;
Crimson banks with rifts of opal

Down the west at eventide.

Or the day strikes clear and bold

Up the east suffused with gold,

Till the brown hills stand transfigured,

Canon, crest, and wooded height,
Sharp, as if by hand of sculptor

Carved against the walls of light.

Unperceived, what beauty creeps
Up the bare and rugged steeps;
Yellow moss that garners sunshine,

Soft tints piercing the brown mold,
Like a marvelous mosaic

Set in lichens gray and old.

Soon the glades with gorgeous hues
Springing grasses interfuse;
Purples and such bits of color

As an artist's palette shows;
Dash of ruby, streaks of amber,

Flakes of amethyst and rose.

Green the Eucalyptus towers

Sentinel of all the hours;

And the regal Oaks, that tempests

Of gray centuries have defied,
With a low deciduous murmur,

Weave anew their crowns of pride.

And the soul keeps holy time
In the budding, rain or rime;
Blooms the sweet celestial manna,

Falls the hydromel unseen,
For the festival of Nature

When the hills are growing green.

THE BOTANICAL GARDEN.

There is an aspect of the question of
the establishment of a Botanical Gar-
den in this State that has not been suffi-
ciently considered in the discussion of
the subject by the press. We refer to
the fact that such a garden, in which
living specimens of all the more impor-
tant, useful, and ornamental plants can
be exhibited to the student, stands in a
similar relation to instruction in agri-
cultural pursuits, as the library, labora-
tory, and museum do to literary and
other scientific studies. As an indis-
pensable adjunct to instruction, the es-
tablishment of a garden of general and
economic botany at Berkeley is, there-
fore, merely a question of money and
time, and can not be, in Ihe nature of
things, very long delayed. We under-
stand that the subject has been urged
upon the Board of Regents by Profess-
or Hilgard from the outset, and that
want of funds alone has stood in the
way of immediate realization. It stands
among the first on the list of improve-
ments contemplated in the Agricultural
Department of the University, and the
question is whether it shall be slowly
built up out of the current income of
the institution, or called into existence
and usefulness by a Legislative appro-
priation for the purpose.

There is much misapprehension both
as to the character and necessary cost
of such a botanical garden. The Gar-
den of Plants at Paris, which is so often
mentioned in this connection, is the
slow growth of over two centuries, and
can not reasonably be made the model
of what California is now prepared to
do. The most costly feature is the col-
lection of animals and the building for
the museum with its contents, which
form a part of the educational appli-
ances of the University of Paris. Sim-

THE CALIFOBNIA HOKTICULTUEIST.

53

ilar considerations apply to the Kew
Gardens ; and were establishments of
this kind the thing in view, the propos-
ed appropriation of §25,000 would in-
deed be absurdly inadequate. But for
a garden of economic and general bot-
any, which shall fulfill the purposes of
the Jar din d'Acclimatation, to subserve
the legitimate objects of instruction and
experiment in connection with the Uni-
versity, the sum is not at all inadequate.
The Durfee Plant-house at the Massa-
chusetts Agricultural College was built
for $3,500 ; $5,000 would put up on the
University grounds a similar building,
of which the State might well be proud.
$12,000 would go far toward stocking
and preparing both plant -house and
grounds, leaving a balance to defray
the running expenses for some years to
come, in view of the fact that but little
additional skilled labor, beyond that al-
ready employed on the grounds, would
be required. It is not at all difficult to
so combine usefulness and beauty that
the University Park, outside of the Ag-
ricultural grounds proper, shall largely
be made available for the purposes of
illustration and instruction, so as to af-
ford sufficient room for reasonable com-
pleteness in the list of plants.

We trust the time will come when
California, with her wonderful climate
and facility of communication, will pos-
sess a garden of plants and animals
that will easily rival the magnificent es-
tablishments of England and France.
But that which is most needed should
be done first, and at the place where it
will be most useful to the instruction of
youth and to the development of the
resources of the State. From such be-
ginnings a natural and healthy process
of growth will gradually and surely
carry us to the realization of the more
comprehensive plan, which it would be
fatal to attempt at this time. — Bulletin.

ON GATHERING RIPE FRUIT.

This is what Josiah Hoopes, well
known as a nurseryman and horticult-
urist of Chester Co., Pa., says:

' ' In regard to the gathering of ripe
fruits of different kinds, no fruit should
be taken from the tree or plant during
a damp time, and especially when the
dew is plentiful in early morning.
Never be so hurried as to find any cause
for the excuse, ' I had no time to hand-
pick my fruit, and consequently was
forced to shake them off,' for such is
poor policy. Fruit so gathered will al-
most inevitably decay from the effects
of bruises. Each specimen should be
taken from the tree one by one, han-
dled as if they had been so many eggs.
The lightest bruise or abrasion of the
skin is the sure forerunner of a dark
spot, which will eventually change into
some form of rot. The spores or seed
of fungi are always ready to assist in
the work of dissolution, and the slight-
est scratch gives them a foothold for
their destructive work. Scarcely any
variety of the largest fruits color and
ripen so well if left to perfect themselves
on the tree, and especially is this true
in respect to Pears. Summer varieties,
as they approach maturity, loosen their
hold somewhat on the limb, and by
gently raising the fruit they will easily
detach themselves at the proper period.
This is an excellent test, and may al-
ways be relied on. To color up fruit
nicely, all that is necessary will be to
spread a blanket on the floor of a cool
room, and then thinly and evenly place
the fruit on the floor. A second blan-
ket must be spread over them, and in a
short time the effect of this treatment
will be apparent in the most golden col-
ored Bartletts, and rich, ruddy-looking
Seckels imaginable. Pears perfected
in this manner rarely have the meali-

54

THE CALIFORNIA HOBTICULTUBIST.

ness of their naturally ripened compan-
ions, nor do they prematurely decay at
the core as when left on the tree.
Peaches are too frequently gathered be-
fore attaining the full size, and when
this is the case we need not expect good
flavor. They must obtain this requisite
before gathering; although it is not nec-
essary to delay picking until very mel-
low. As a general rule, all small fruits
are gathered too early; and, as high col-
or is not a sign of maturity, many ex-
perienced fruit-growers are frequently
misled. Never pick Strawberries be-
cause they are red, nor Blackberries
solely on account of their dark appear-
ance. Each should remain on the
plant for some time thereafter. The
Albany Seedling Strawberry changes to
a deep crimson hue, and gains continu-
ally in size after its first coloring pro-
cess. It is then soft, and excellent eat-
ing. And so with Blackberries in like
manner, many complaining of their ex-
treme tartness, when the fault was in
gathering imperfect fruit. The Lawton
or New-Rochelle variety, in particular,
is delicious eating, if allowed to remain
on the plant until soft, when the slight-
est touch will sever its hold. Straw-
berries picked with the calyx (or hull)
adhering will always carry better and
be less liable to decay than if carelessly
pulled off without this appendage. The
foregoing remarks in relation to the
proper time for gathering fruits are
equally applicable to the Grape. These
generally color long before they are ma-
ture; and thus many a novice in fruit-
culture frequently forms an unjust
opinion of his varieties simply from
testing unripe specimens. Grapes
should always be severed from the vine
with strong scissors or trimming shears,
and never twisted or broken off. The
nice appearance of fruits of all kinds,
in their boxes or baskets, in the mar-

kets, will command a better price than
when slovenly ' done up.'"

OECHIDS AND THEIR VARIETIES.

A few years ago but few Orchids were
seen growing in private establishments,
arising from an erroneous belief that
they could only be grown where a high
temperature and moist atmosphere were
maintained, and therefore to try their
cultivation in a common greeenhouse,
among other plants, was useless. Such
false notions have of late years been
giving way, and now in every good col-
lection of greenhouse plants are found
a few, and in some collections a large
number of the different species of what
are termed "cool Orchids," among
which are found some of the finest
species of the Orchid family, and at this
dull season of the year are found enliv-
ening, with their superb blossoms, the
greenhouse. We shall therefore give a
short description of some, the kinds in
flower now, and which can be grown
with success in a common greenhouse.

Cyprepedium insigne. — This is one of
the oldest inmates of the greenhouse;
the flowers are produced singly, on a
spike about a foot high, the petals and
sepals being of a greenish white, spot-
ted with brown, the dorsal sepal tipped
with white. They last a long time in
flower, and increase very rapidly. If
the plants get liberal treatment, large
specimens can soon be procured.

Dendrobiumnobile. — Another old spe-
cies, the flowers being produced along
the sides of the ripened stems. They
are of a pinkish white, with a large
purple spot on the centre of the lip.
This plant does best in a basket, grown
in a mixture of sphagnum, peat, and
pieces of charcoal. When growing wa-
ter abundantly. Toward the comple-
tion of its growth, withhold water, and

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

55

during the season of rest, just give as
much water as will keep the stems from
shriveling.

Lcelia anceps. — From Mexico we have
this beautiful Orchid. The flowers are
produced on spikes from the top of the
bulb — the sepals and petals a rose lilac,
the lip a dark purple. This Orchid
does best in a dry, cool house, and is
well adapted for the greenhouse.

Zygopetalum crinitum. — The flowers of
this Orchid are produced on spikes from
the base of the bulbs. The petals and
sepals are green and brown, the lip
white, streaked with blue. They are
sweet-scented.

Lycaste Skinnerii. — Of all cool house
Orchids, this stands pre-eminent. There
are a great many varieties, all well worth
growing, and the flowers last for months
in perfection. The sepals and petals
are of a light rose, darker towards the
base, and' the lip spotted with crimson.
In some varieties this spotting is of a
very bright color.

This class of plants, when in flower,
should be kept dry, and no water allow-
ed on the flowers, as it soon causes
them to decay. None of the Orchids is
better adapted for decorating the sitting
room or parlor than Lycaste Skinnerii.
If taken in from the greenhouse when
the flowers open and kept in a cool
room, they will last for several months
in perfection.

EFFECT OF CAMPHOR ON SEEDS.

Some curious and all but forgotten
experiments of much interest to agri-
culture and gardening, observes a Lon-
don paper, have lately been revived by
a German savant. Very many years
ago it was discovered and recorded that
water saturated with camphor had a re-
markable effect upon the germination
of seeds. Like many another useful

hint, the stupid world took no notice of
this intimation; but a Berlin professor
came across the record of it, and he ap-
pears to have established the fact that a
solution of camphor stimulates vegeta-
bles as alcohol does animals. He took
seeds in various sorts of pulse, some of
the samples being three or four years
old, and therefore possessing a slight
degree of vitality. He divided these
parcels, placing one moiety of them be-
tween sheets of blotting-paper simply
wetted, and the other under strictly
similar conditions between sheets soak-
ed in the camphorated water. In many
cases the seeds did not swell at all un-
der the influence of the simple moist-
ure, but in every case they germinated
where they were subjected to the cam-
phor solution. The experiment was ex-
tended to different kinds of garden
seeds, old and new, and always with
the same result of showing a singular
awakening of dormant vitalism and a
wonderful quickening of growth. It
also appears from the professor's re-
searches that the young plants thus set
shooting continued to increase with a
vigor and vivacity much beyond that of
those which are not so treated. On the
other hand, when powdered camphor
was mixed with the soil, it appeared to
exercise a rather bad effect upon the
seeds. The dose in this latter case was
possibly too . strong. At all events
there is here a line of inquiry well
worth following up by seedsmen and
gardeners; and even farmers might try
how far wheat and barley would profit
from the strange property which seems
to be possessed by this drug over the
latent life of vegetable germs.

Positive good comes by using tepid
water on all plants, while evil is often
wrought by cold water.

56

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

KEMEDIAL ACTION OF THE AILANTHUS.

The Ailanthus, as an ornamental and
shade tree, has of late years gone into
disrepute on account of the offensive
effluvium of its male blossoms, and its
planting in Washington was positively
forbidden by an Act of Congress — at
least an appropriation for the District
of Columbia, made some years ago, was
granted upon the condition that no
Ailanthus trees should thereafter be
planted in the city of Washington.
The tree is, however, one of very great
value as a timber tree, and is highly
recommended for growth upon the
Western prairies, as its development is
extremely rapid, and the wood is equal
to Chestnut in mechanical properties.
It is one of the largest trees known, be-
ing said to attain a height of 300 feet in
China. Very little attention has been
directed to its medicinal virtues; but
according to Dr. Robert, of the French
naval fleet in the waters of China and
Japan, the bark of the root, in the form
of a powder, is more efficient in the
treatment of dysentery than ipecac, cal-
omel, astringents, opiates, etc. For
this purpose, one part of the bark of
the root is cut into very fine pieces and
pounded up in a mortar, to which one
and a half parts of warm water are add-
ed. The whole is to be allowed to
stand for a sufficient time to soften the
bark, and it is then strained through a
piece of linen. The infusion is admin-
istered in doses of a tablespoonful,
morning and evening, either pure or in
a cup of tea. This is to be continued
for three days under a very strict diet-
ary regimen. After that, bread and
milk may be given, and, subsequently,
ordinary diet. If at the end oft eight
days a cure is not effected, the treat-
ment may be renewed. This substance
is extremely bitter, and its administra-

tion frequently produces nausea. In
Dr. Robert's experience, a complete
cure was almost always brought about
within eight days; in only one instance
was it necessary to renew the applica-
tion.

STAETING ANNUAL FLOWEES.

So far as relates to the removal of
this class of plants they might be di-
vided into two distinct sections — those
that can be readily transplanted, and
those which are almost sure to die if
disturbed. The first of these will make
better plants if the seed is sown at this
season in boxes of light soil, and placed
in a warm, sunny window. Do not
bury small seed, but merely sprinkle
them upon the surface of the soil; gen-
tle watering will cover them sufficient-
ly for germination to ensue. A good
plan is to place a little soil in a fine
sieve, and while holding it over the pot
of seeds give it a slight jar; this will be
amply sufficient to cover them. Large
or medium sized seeds should be pushed
beneath the surface, to a depth depend-
ing solely upon the size of the same, as
the larger the seed, the deeper it may
be inserted. This may seem of trivial
importance, but professional gardeners
think differently; hence their better sue
cess. The young seedlings will appear-
sooner and more evenly if the box
should be covered with a pane of glass;
care being taken that the moisture is
wiped off once a day, and a little air ad-
mitted as soon as the young plants show
themselves above the soil. Grrown in
this way, Potulaccas, Phlox, Mignon-
ette, Zinnias, Marigolds, Ageratum, Ger-
man Asters, Cockscombs, Balsams, Gril-
liflowers and Petunias, appear to form
better plants than when grown in the
ordinary way, by sowing the seeds
where the plants are to remain. On

THE CALIFOENIA HOETICULTUBIST.

57

the other hand, Lupins, Eschscholtzia,
(Euothera, etc., must be grown where
the seed are scattered. If the colors
are to be grown* in separate lines for
ribboning, the young plants can be
planted out in different styles so as to
form very pleasing effects. Select a
damp, cloudy day for removal, and
shade with paper at first, when the
sun is not obscured.

OLIVE CULTURE.

A writer in a contemporary corrects
the erroneous impression which has
gone abroad that Olive-trees do not
bear for eight or ten years after plant-
ing, and says that he has trees in San
Diego County which bore at three years.
It is difficult to see how such impres-
sions could be given, for it is a well-
known fact that Olive cuttings stuck in
the ground will produce fruit before
there is wood enough to support the
load. "We have frequently seen Olives
over an inch in length grown on trees
so small that the fruit could be picked
from the topmost branches without the
use of a step-ladder.

And this leads us to remark that San
Diego and Los Angeles Counties are
not the only localities by any means
where the Olive will flourish. There
are a number of large trees in the old
Catholic church-yari in Santa Clara,
which are noted for the fine fruit pro-
duced. The middle portion of the
State as far north as Eed Bluff is ad-
mirably adapted to the growth of these
trees. Very little direct and reliable
information has been disseminated as
to the productiveness and profit of the
Olive, or the orchardists of California
would certainly have given the subject
more attention. As high as 200 gallons of
fruit have been gathered from one tree
in the Olive groves of the Jesuit priests,

Vol. VI.— 1.

San Gabriel Mission, and the entire or-
chard would probably average 100 gal-
lons to the tree. Of co urse this is not to be
taken as a criterion, as these trees are
almost a century old, having been plant-
ed by the Jesuits soon after this Mission
was established. But at five years of
age it is safe to say that the trees will
yield 50 gallons each, which, at 75 cents
a gallon, and 100 trees to the acre,
would be §37 50 a tree, and $3,750 an
acre.

This is an average price for the Ol-
ives for the purpose of pickles. The
manner of taking care of the fruit is
very simple. After the fruit is gather-
ed it is put in barrels and covered with
water, which is drawn off and fresh wa-
ter added every two days, for about
four months. This deprives them of
the bitter, milky substance, after which
they are either placed in salt and water,
or vinegar, and are then ready for mar-
ket.

No more handsome trees can be
planted to adorn a farm, the dark green
foliage making a dense shade, and pre-
senting a beautiful appearance, espe-
cially when viewed at a distance. -^-Call.

Prices of Bake Plants in England. —
In London, last month, a collection of
Orchids, consisting of 639 lots, brought
£2211 14s., or more than $11,000. One
plant of Saccolabium guitatum, described
in the catalogue as being ' 'from two to
three feet high and wide,5' and as hav-
ing "twenty-two strong leaves, two
strong young plants at bottom, with
ten and eleven leaves respectively," and
as having "produced ten spikes of bloom
this year," was sold for £65 2s. (about
$325). Twenty, thirty, and even forty
pounds were freely given for other lots,
very few of which brought less than ten
guineas.

58

THE CALIFORNIA HOETICULTUKIST.

(BAiUvmX WmUvVw.

<±/<

OUE FRONTISPIECE.

"We present our patrons, this spring
month, with a delicately colored and
most graceful group of some of our de-
servedly favorite flowers : Weigelia Bo-
sea, Moss Hose, and Persian Yellow
Rose. The Weigelia Rosea is a very
beautiful and profuse flowering shrub,
growing about six feet in height, with
pink flowers intermixed with a little
white, similar to Apple blossoms. It is
a desirable addition to every good gar-
den or shrubbery, and makes a hand-
some display of lovely bloom, mingled
with its vividly green and finely-formed
leaves in the spring and- summer. It
is indeed a most strikingly showy plant.
The Moss Rose, or, as it used most
generally to be called, the Moss-Pro-
vence, is considered by the best author-
ities to be a distinct species from the
Rosa Gentifolia, but its original country
is not known. It is a fine delicate Rose
of great fragrance. But that which
renders it of such great estimation is
that singular and rough, moss-like sub-
stance which surrounds the calyx, and
the upper part of the peduncle or foot-
stalk of the flower. We have not found
the climate of San Francisco favorable
for this species of Rose, as well as some
others, in the open air, on account of
our strong and rather cold winds. It
is very much subject to mildew, with
many others, but in some of the milder
climates on this coast does well. The
Persian Yellow Rose is one of, if not
the very, best of our yellow varieties.
It blooms well, and is, in fact, the only
dark double annual bloomer we have.
It is impossible to mention Persia with-
out recalling ideas of love, Roses, and
nightingales! We naturally turn our
thoughts to a country so peculiarly in-
teresting— "to those romantic regions of

the sun" — to a country which has been se-
lected by some — not without reason — as
the site of primeval paradise, and which
is now emphatically paradise lost! It is
still a garden where nature revels in
the most unbounded luxuriance, but
where man is fallen, indeed, yet still

"Where the soft Persian maid the breath in-

Of love-sick Eoses wooed by nightingales."

We are reminded on our return of
spring in California of the following
beautiful stanzas of the Persian poet,
Hafez, on the same subject (substituting
the mocking-bird for the nightingale) :

"The love- struck nightingale's delightful strain,
The lark's* pathetic note, are heard again;
Again the Hose, to hail spring's festive day,
From the cold house of sorrow hastes away. ' '

" See, where the Rose and spring to mirth

awake !
So cheerful looks the Rose, 'twere wisdom's

part
To tear the root of trouble from the heart."

CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURAL ASPECTS
AND PROSPECTS.

Mr. R. J. Trumbull, one of the most
practical and intelligent nurserymen
and florists of this city, in his " Guide
and Catalogue " truthfully, we consider,
speaks of California's position and pros-
pects in horticulture: " Our coast, with
its charming climate, its unrivaled scen-
ery, and its marvelously wonderful pro-
ductiveness, is well worthy of constant
study. This much-favored land should
have much consideration bestowed upon
it. Time was, and that not many
years ago, when California- was only
known to fame by her crops of bullion ;
but now her genial and health-giving
climate, with her bountiful and hand-
somely perfect vegetable productions,
are not only attracting but challenging

* The meadow- lark.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTTJKIST.

59

the world. The future reputation of
this coast rests with the tillers of the
soil. We have only begun to demon-
strate what our soil and climate are ca-
pable of producing. "We have the fa-
cilities, if brought into proper exercise,
of furnishing our neighbors over the
mountains with a full supply of Or-
anges, Lemons, Limes, Prunes, Figs,
Raisins, Almonds, Guavas, Bananas,
and we believe eventually, with Pine-
apples. The market for these fruits
may be said to be without limit, and
the culture of them in this State has
been simply experimental. Now, how-
ever, the great aim of our fruit-growers
should be the highest possible degree
of perfection. There will soon be no
more need of New York merchants
sending to foreign countries for the
fruits we have named, than for San
Francisco to send to Australia for a
supply of flour, if our fruit-growers will
bestir themselves. Nearly all the semi-
tropical fruits required for the supply
of the United States may be produced
in our Golden State, and shipped to the
remotest points fresh and sweet as if
just picked from the trees."

THE ALDEN PKOCESS FOE PRESERV-
ING FRUIT.

"We have several times noticed this
valuable invention. Past experience
has strengthened our confidence in it.
More than 200 Alden factories have
been established in the United States.
Articles dried by it are cheaper, when
the quality is considered, than by any
other mode, and they are brought to
resemble more the fresh fruit than in
any other way of preservation. It is
contended that by it fruits of a particu-
lar description, such as Apricots, Plums,
Grapes, Peaches, and Nectarines, can
be raised with profit, especially near

the Alden establishments, at one cent
per pound; and for the following rea-
sons: 130 trees to the acre, and 100
pounds of fruit to the tree, is not a high
a high estimate, and yet will yield $130
per acre at this price. This will be
better than any kind of grain raising,
in the long run at any rate. In Cali-
fornia we can produce an almost unlim-
ited quantity of the above fruits, be-
cause we are as yet almost entirely free
from destructive insects compared with
the Eastern States. With regard to
Apples the States east of the Rocky
Mountains, we acknowledge, can sur-
pass us, but, in the majority of fruits,
we have immensely the advantage of
them. The policy of the Company is
to employ the best workmanship, and
to use the best material, with instruc-
tions to do everything in the most
thorough manner. To dry fruit so as
to make it keep is the sole idea of many
persons. Dried fruit of any kind is
dried fruit to them, and there are cus-
tomers just like them, and hence the
poorer qualities will find a market at a
poor price. But to produce first-rate
dried fruits, free from insects and their
eggs, so common with the fruits dried
in the open air, is a most important
point. This the Alden process does,
with extra care and attention bestowed
in preserving the color uniform, without
the appearance of burned or decayed
spots, and the Company is rewarded in
the extra price their fruit brings in the
market. They are now producing fruit
jelly, fruit flour, and crystalized fruits,
conserves and marmalades. Their rai-
sins have given great satisfaction, and
have nearly, if not quite, equaled in
the market the foreign article. This is
undoubtedly going to be a great busi-
ness on our coast, and we can go far to
supply the world in all the above-named
dried and preserved productions. Per-

60

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

sons who wish to enter into the busi-
ness of fruit-raising will do well to con-
fine themselves, as far as regards the
markets and supplying the Alden Com-
pany, chiefly to the cultivation of the
Apricot, Plum, Grape, Peach, and Nec-
tarine. These will pay better than
growing the Apple, Pear, Cherry, etc.

CATALOGUES EECEIVED.

R. J. Trumbull's " Guide for 1876 to
the Vegetable and Flower Garden, and
Catalogue of Fruit and Ornamental
Trees, Shrubs, and Bulbs, Plants, etc."
Warehouse, 419 and 424 Sansome St.,
San Francisco. Nursery, corner H and
Centre Sts., San Rafael. Annexed to
the " Guide " is a catalogue and price-
list of semi-tropical fruit-trees, embrac-
ing many new varieties. Mr. Trumbull
has paid much attention to the Blue
Gum (Eucalyptus globulus), the Monte-
rey and Italian Cypress and their cult-
ure, and has a great number of these
for sale.

D. M. Ferry & Co.'s "Seed Annual
for 1876, illustrated and descriptive,
comprising an extensive and excellent
list of Garden, Flower, and Agricult-
ural Seeds," from Detroit, Mich. This
work forms quite a large volume, and
contains valuable hints and instructions
on all the above seeds.

Root's " Garden Manual and Seed
Catalogue of all kinds of Seeds for
1876," Rockford, Illinois. In this are
good directions for the cultivation of all
field produce and garden vegetables;
also for the destruction of all field and
garden pests.

Beach Son & Co.'s "Annual Spring
Catalogue, 1876, comprising a complete
assortment of Flower and Vegetable
Seeds, Flowering Bulbs, Gladioli, Lil-
ies, etc." This is appended to their

quarterly illustrated journal, the Amer-
ican Garden, devoted to garden art.

J. M. Thorburn & Co.'s "Annual
Descriptive Catalogue of Vegetable and
Agricultural Seeds, embracing every
standard improved variety; also, tested
novelties." No. 15 John Street, New
York.

FRUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

We have observed rather more plenti-
fully in our markets this winter than
usual the Shaddock, which may not be
familiar with a majority of our citizens.
This tropical fruit is like a large, coarse
Orange, with a very little of that fruit's
flavor, and a good deal of stringent bit-
ter, especially when any portion of the
skin, or parts of the division which
separate the fleshy pulp, are eaten.
Therefore, for a hand fruit, it is not of
much value; but for preserves, it, no
doubt, is good. Still, in our markets
we never have a sufficient quantity of
them to reduce their price sufficiently
moderate to induce people to use them
in that manner. We are informed
that when this imposing looking fruit
has fully ripened on the tree, its juices
are saccharine and subacid, and those
which are heavy and soft are usually
found the best. We believe it is not
much cultivated in the southern parts
of California owing to the far superior
qualities of the common Orange.

Among those fruits which are least
common in our markets is the Medlar
(mespilus). This fruit is quite round,
and about as large as a Plum, though
some, varieties are nearly as large as the
small Lady Apple. The color of it is
brown. The pulp is thick, and contains
five wrinkled stones; but they are not
esteemed for the table until they have

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

61

been kept some time, or been touched
out of doors with a little frost. The
large Dutch Medlar is of the best qual-
ity. Its flavor is peculiar, but much
liked by some persons, who have acquir-
ed its taste by the habit of eating it,
similar to that relish which can be gain-
ed by the perseverance of some, who,
disliking them at first, become greatly
folid of Olives and oysters. It is a
fruit which is much grown in Europe,
and forms, generally, a portion of the
dessert of fruits at Christmas time, af-
ter the substantial portion of the dinner
is removed from the table. It is con-
sidered a very wholesome fruit, although
it is eaten while actually in a state of
decomposition. We have so large a
range of fruits in California, that Med-
lars are but very seldom seen on the
stalls. Miller, in his Gardener's Dic-
tionary published in England, names
eight varieties of the Medlar. It grows
naturally in Sicily, where it becomes a
large tree. It rises there with a straight-
er stem, and the branches grow more up-
right than it does here or in England.
The flowers of the Dutch Medlar are
very large, and its fruit are the largest
of all the varieties. The Mespilus (arbu-
tifolia) grows naturally in some parts of
this continent. It but rarely rises more
than five feet high. It produces a small
roundish fruit a little compressed, of a
purple color when ripe. All the sorts
grow taller and succeed best from the
seed, instead of grafting or budding
upon the common white Thorn.

There is another fruit which we ob-
serve now more frequently in our fruit
stores than we have formerly. It is the
fruit of the Tamarind. This fruit, or
rather pod, has anything but a tempt-
ing appearance. It looks like so many
dry brownish chips. But that which
they contain is a very agreeable mix-
ture of a material composed of sugar

and Lemons. But it is most found here
in a preserved state • in our drug, gro-
cery, and fruit stores. It is generally
used, though, without preparation as
an article of food, and occasionally as a
medicine. There can be no doubt of
the Tamarind tree bearing good fruit in
this State equal to that imported. In-
deed the trees are now succeeding in vari-
ous portions of the country. The best
are cured with sugar, and are known as
the sugar Tamarinds. Another kind is
also cured with molasses, and known as
the common molasses Tamarinds, or
West India Tamarinds. These are all
excellent for fevers. This fruit is in
season all the year round, but is best
with us in the months of February and
March.

About the months of October and No-
vember we have a few Whortleberries,
Huckleberries, or Blackberries. We
have at least one kind, chiefly found in
the northern part of our coast, equal to
the Eastern kinds. There are several
varieties of this prolific fruit known,
among which those growing on the high
bushes are usually preferred. The best
variety is called the Swamp Huckleber-
ry or Blueberry, which yields the largest
berry, of a purplish black; when ripe is
subacid, rich, and juicy. Another va-
riety, called the common or Highbush
berry, is also a rich, fine berry, of a dark
blue color, or almost black. We have
also one species of a crimson color,
which we found in Mendocino County,
but we never saw it in the San Francis-
co market. It has small seeds and is
very juicy, sweet, and delicious. The
different sorts sent to this market from
the North are generally found mixed up
together, except the crimson or red sort-

We have never seen the Shepardia or
Buffalo berry in the San Francisco mar-
ket. This fruit is of the size and ap-
pearance of a large Currant of a red or

62

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

scarlet color, and grows in clusters,
with a rich taste, and used principally for
and makes excellent preserves.

Pomegranates are not very abundant
at present in our markets. Indeed they
are so uncommon here that few persons
know anything about them. They are
not very much prized for eating, but
rather more as curiosities; so we will
describe the fruit. It is about as large
as a medium-sized Apple, having some-
what of the appearance of a smooth
Apple Quince, but with a red cheek,
full of seeds, and divided into sections.
When it becomes ripe there is a soft,
juicy, agreeable acid pulp around the
seeds. The rind and inside partitions
are hard, tough, and highly astringent.
Ripens here generally in August and
September. It makes an excellent
medicinal syrup, either for fevers or
inflammations.

There is a kind of Orange, though
scarce here, called by some the G-ripe-
fruit or Forbidden-fruit. It is of a bit-
ter and tart flavor. The inside skin
which surrounds the fleshy cells is of a
disagreeable bitter. They have much
the appearance of the Shaddock, but
smaller. In season usually with the
Orange, but not much admired.

"We have, in the season, the Citron.
This fruit is of the Lemon species, but
larger, warted and ribbed or furrowed.
Its thick, fragrant rind is generally
found in abundance in the groceries,
etc., in a preserved state; this and the
pulp, which is a subacid, are used in
confectionery, sweetmeats, plum-cakes,
plum-puddings, preserves, etc. Abun-
dance of Citrons are raised on our slope.

We sometimes observe specimens and
quantities of the Avocado or Alligator
Pear (Persea gr'atissima) on some of our
fruit stands. This fruit is about the size
of a medium-sized Pear, pyramidal in
shape, and when ripe of a yellow color.

It is very grateful to the taste, and
must be most delicious when ripened
on the tree in a tropical or semi-tropi-
cal country, but we have it here gather-
ed before it is ripe, and unlike the Or-
ange it does not ripen so well after it
has been picked when green.

The Grranadilla or Mayapple (Passi-
flora edulis) is very rarely found here.
In the southern States, and in sotith
California, it grows in the greatest per-
fection, generally about the size of an
Apple, and larger, with a sweet, yellow
pulp. It is found mostly in the south-
ern cities of the Union, where it is used
as a dessert. It requires a very warm
climate.

A few Strawberries were received
during the second week in January, but
the quality was poor and they were ne-
glected by buyers. California Oranges
came along slowly, not being in very
good demand, as they were still unripe.
The market was well supplied with Cal-
ifornia and foreign Lemons and Limes,
and prices were low. Strictly choice
Apples were very scarce and retailed
by the box readily at $3 50, while Ore-
gon and common California were plenti-
ful at $1 50@2 50, delivered.

Cucumbers, Green Peas and Toma-
toes had disappeared during the week.
A few String Beans were still in mar-
ket, but the supply lasted but a few
days. The frosty nights cut off the
supply of Mushrooms, and no more
will be received until the weather mod-
erates. Potatoes were cheaper and sold
by the single sack at $1 50@2 f 100
lbs., delivered.

About the 20th of last month (Jan-
uary) the list of Domestic Fruits was re-
duced to Apples, Oranges, Lemons,
Limes, and Citrons. Apples of ordinary
quality were moderately abundant, but
the choicer sorts were very scarce and
readily commanded extreme figures.

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

63

By the single box the various grades
sold at $1 50 to $3 50. The great bulk
of the Apples were Newtown Pippins
chiefly; we believe from Oregon. These
Apples are another instance among
many of how much a kind of fruit is
changed or modified by climate and soil
in different portions of the States and
Territories. The Newtown Pippin of
California and Oregon has generally a
blush on the side next the sun nearly
as red as the Maiden Blush Apple.
When it is nearly ripe and most j uicy
its texture is quite hard and rather
tough, and when it is quite ripe it is
rather spongy and almost j uiceless. We
have eaten them most in perfection from
the " Suscol Orchards" of Mr. Thomp-
son, not far from the city of Napa. The
climate there is a happy medium be-
tween the extreme heat and cold of the
general California climate; and these
extremes in that valley (Vallejo) are
modified by the breezes from the ocean
and the bay of San Francisco. The
Newtown Pippins from these Suscol
Orchards are more like the same fine
fruit of New York State and many parts
of the Eastern and Middle States.

The supply of Pears in the market
has been meagre during the whole sea-
son, owing to a deficient crop and
heavy shipments to the East, and at the
present time (February) very few of any
kind are to be had. We miss, this
winter, many of the Nelis, GloutMorceau
and Easter Beurre. California Oranges
are now coming forward very freely, and
will soon control the markets. The last of
the stock of Mexican were worked off at
the end of January, and the domestic
became ripe and profitable. Lemons
and Limes have continued abundant up
to the present time.

The assortment of the vegetable mar-
ket at the end of last month (January)
was very meagre. Cabbages and Cauli-

flowers were scarce, and wholesale rates
had been raised, though no change had
been made in the retail prices. The
cold weather still kept back the supply
of wild Mushrooms, and none but a few
of the attractive variety were to be had,
and these at very high prices. Pota-
toes by the single sack were steady at
$1 75 $ 100 lbs., for good to choice.

Oranges, Lemons, and Limes, were
plentiful, while in tropical fruits the
stock of Bananas and Pine-apples were
sufficient for all requirements. Apples
and Pears were scarce and dear, the
former selling by the box at $1 50 to
$3 50.

(tawfltttfjewe.

THE SKINNEK SEEDLING.

Editok Horticulturist : — I see in the
December number of your most excel-
lent magazine (a publication that every
tiller of the soil should take) an article
on Seedling Fruits. It is true, as the
article states, that the most serious hin-
derance to many who would plant seed
is the lack of time and patience. Ne-
cessity, they say, is the mother of in-
vention, and it certainly was so in the
following case:

In the fall of 1848, H. C. Skinner,
Esq., of Milwaukee, Wis., contemplat-
ed emigrating to California the follow-
ing spring, and thinking he was goiDg
to a wild country, where there was no
fruit, bought several barrels of Apples,
the seed of which he saved to plant in
his new home. Settling on the banks
of the Coyote Biver, about one mile
east of San Jose, he planted his seed
and nursed the young plants with care
and pride, and was finally rewarded for
his labor by the production of five or
six plants of fair average fruit, and one
plant of the finest table fruit, named
the Skinner Seedling, that I ever ate,

64

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

but unfortunately little known among
fruit growers. The fruit is of a beauti-
ful yellowish color, tinged with streaks
of red, very much resembling in size,
shape, and appearance the Smith's Ci-
der, but far superior to it, as the skin is
soft and thin, exceedingly juicy, and of
a delicious aromatic flavor. There are
some trees of the fruit still on the old
Skinner place, a number on Mr. King's
place adjoining, and a few in other or-
chards in the neighborhood. Fruit
growers could not do better than to
get some of the cions or buds, and graft
them on some inferior stalks, and my
word for it, they would be well paid for
their trouble. W. H. Jessup.

San Francisco, Jan. 29, 1876.

(^tutorial <&Umiu$4

Patchouly. — The San Luis Obispo
Tribune says: " Our readers are all ac-
quainted with the delicate perfume
known as ' Patchouly,' but few know
from what it is made and where it comes
from. It is the essential oil from the
seeds of a plant, native of India, known
as Pogontemon Patchouly. Owing to the
scarcity of seeds in the Parisian mar-
kets, samples were sent to Mr. Kastan,
in Acapulco, Mexico, for the purpose
of introducing its culture there, as it
was believed that the climate so nearly
resembled that of India it would thrive
as well as on its native soil, and thus in-
crease the supply. Mr. L. Kastan, who
was at that time a resident of Acapul-
co, in the employ of his father's house,
put some seeds in his trunk to perfume
its contents. Last year, after the lapse
of two years, he came across these
seeds, and gave them to Mr. Pepper-
man to plant, as an experiment. Mr.
Pepperman divided the seeds with us,
and we succeeded in raising three
plants, which, though planted late,

have made a good growth and ripened
about an ounce of seed which have the
same rich odor as the old stock. From
this experiment we are satisfied that
Patchouly may be cultivated profitably
in almost any part of California."

The Flora of Greenland. — The val-
leys and gorges of Disco, especially the
Lyngmarken and the shores of Engles-
mander's Havn, in their gay summer
clothing of mosses and wild flowers,
furnish an excellent example of the
flora of both north and south Greenland
— of the plants which will become fa-
miliar to the explorers further north,
and of the less hardy species which, do
not occur beyond this parallel. Of the
206 species which compose the Arctic
Greenland flora, uj)ward of two-thirds
were collected by the officers of the ex-
pedition round Godhavn. The vegeta-
tion covers the ground in thick masses,
forming turf on the level places, while
it fills the chinks and crannies of the
rocks and creeps over the surface of the
stones, giving a very bright appearance
to the near view of this land of Disco
in summer. The prettiest thing of all
and the most abundant is the Club Moss
(Cassiope tetragona), with its graceful lit-
tle white bellflowers, like miniature
Lilies of the Valley. With it are gen-
erally the Dwarf "Willows and Birches,
and the Vaccinium with its red flower
and glossy little leaves. But for the
plague of mosquitoes those lovely Moss-
es would form soft and most luxurious
beds. The Alchemillas, the Angelicas,
and "Whortleberries in the Lyngmarken,
and the rich masses of Holy Fern in
Englishman's Bay, will not be seen fur-
ther north. Quantities of red snow
were also found on the heights above
Godhavn, and specimens were carefully
collected and preserved. Here, too,
were the salad-supjDlying plants, the

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

65

Sorrell and Scurvy Grass, and many
others. The herbaria formed at God-
havn will doubtless be most useful to
the explorers. — Garden.

Double Balsams. — How to secure
Double Balsams year after year, from
our own seeds, is a question that has
been well discussed, though by no means
determined. Let our flowers bloom
ever so double one season, the seeds
saved from them or from those that ma-
ture seeds will, as a rule, prove single,
or but semi-double, the succeding year.

It is generally supposed that age in
Balsam-seeds is conducive to the trans-
formation of stamens into petals. A
trial of our own during the present
summer does not tend to corroborate
this opinion. The seeds were saved
five years ago from the strain known as
Smith's Prize, and planted beside the
same strain purchased last spring — the
latter noticeably superior.

It is a common error, however, in
collecting seeds, to select those pods
which contain the greatest number.
The fully double flowers, in which both
pistils and stamens have expanded into
petals, are of course sterile. But the
nearly double flowers often form one
and two seeds, usually small and shriv-
eled, and these are the very ones we
should collect, though by their imper-
fect appearance the very first to be re-
jected as worthless.

"We have also noticed that a strong,
healthy germination of the seeds, which
would seem to favor a perfection of
flowers, is not always conducive to that
multiplication of the petals which in the
Balsam is justly . considered its chief
beauty. On the contrary, drawn, sick-
ly young plants, which we judged might
better have been thrown away, produced
the largest, fullest inflorescence. — Rural
New Yorker.

Olives. — In the Balearic Islands,
where the cultivation appears to the eye
to be so general, one-third of the land
actually remains uncultivated. In these
islands rather more than 26,838 hectares
are occupied in the growth of olives.
The olea-tree, upon which the olive is
grown, originally grows wild in the
mountain-land as a shrub, producing a
fruit which bears no oil. "When brought
under cultivation, grafting is practiced.
The ancient historians of Majorca re-
count that in olden times the olive was
unknown in the Balearic Islands, and
that the art of grafting was taught to
the islanders by the Carthaginians.
By the appearance, however, of some of
the enormous and ancient-looking olive-
trees to be seen now in Majorca, one
would be tempted to believe that their
existence dates as far back as the peri-
od to which the historian refers. An
intelligent Majorcan farmer, being ask-
ed by Consul Bidwell how old he
thought some of these trees were, re-
plied, f; I believe they may well date
from the time of the flood." It is a re-
markable feature in the growth of these
magnificent trees that one seldom or
never sees two alike. Almost all, in
the course of time, assume most gro-
tesque forms; and upon old trees whose
trunks are rent open and torn into half
a dozen shreds is often to be seen the
finest crop of fruit, while in Majorca
they have in some places attained pro-
portions akin to those of the forest-trees
of the tropics.

How to Gather Cider Apples. — Get
twenty-four yards of the best drilling,
as it is the cheapest in the long run.
Cut into eight equal pieces; these will
be nine feet long. Cut each piece ob-
liquely from end to end, starting four
inches from one corner and coming out
the same distance from the opposite

66

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

corner at the other end. You will now
hare sixteen pieces, each thirty-two in-
ches wide at one and four inches wide
at the other end. Put the wide ends
together, sew the strips together, hem
the edges around the small hole in the
center, bind the outer edge well, and
fasten small stout cords at each of the
sixteen corners. It is now ready for
use. With these small cords tie it to
the lower branches of the Apple-tree,
wherever it is convenient. The tension
you give in tying will determine the sag
in the center so that you can accommo-
date it to the height of the lower
branches from the ground. Drive the
wagon under it, and shake all the
branches immediately over the canvas.
As the apples roll into the wagon a boy
can easily pick out stems and leaves.
When one side of the tree is finished,
the canvas is moved to another. In this
way the apples are all in the wagon
when the shaking is done, except a few
that drop outside of the canvas. If
preferred the apples can be delivered in
a basket, and then emptied into the
wagon. Such a device saves half the
labor of gathering apples, and if well
made of good material will last for
years. — Ohio Farmer.

Potato Farming. — In the early years
of this State an idea prevailed that the
potato could only be raised about Bo-
dega and in a few other sea-coast local-
ities. Experience has dissipated this
fallacy. Potatoes as good as those of
Bodega are now produced in the foot-
hills, and as far up in the Sierra as an
altitude of 3,500 feet. They need only
water to attain their utmost excellence
and most abundant yield wherever they
are planted. One tule farmer this year
has realized $200 per acre on his potato
crop, and many others have done nearly
as well. In the sage deserts of Nevada,

where a few years ago it was thought no
vegetable life could fructify, they are
now turning out immense crops of this
Irish staple of life, and of a quality
equal to any in the market or in the
world. The only requirement is water
to irrigate the plant until the tuber has
fairly formed. The demand is this
season equal to the supply, and prices
are high enough to pay well for culti-
vation. The small farmer who has ten
or a dozen acres in potatoes realizes as
much clear profit as his more preten-
tious neighbor, who has 160 acres in
wheat, with this advantage of the wheat
farmer, that his crop of potatoes is sure,
while the wheat crop is liable to many
contingencies that cannot be foreseen
nor provided against.

A New Process for "Aging" Whisky.
— For some time it has been quite an
object to discover some way to age
whisky ; that is to secure the evapora-
tion of fusil oil in the natural whisky,
so that the test grade of liquor could
be reached. Under ordinary arrange-
ments whisky requires an age of five
years to lose all its fusil oil character.
It has been discovered that the ship-
ment of whisky by sea accomplishes in
a brief period the required evaporation.
The constant motion imparted to the
liquor by the rolling of the vessel has
always had the effect of rapidly hasten-
ing the evaporation of fusil oil, so that
a brief voyage enhances the market
value of whisky to a remarkable de-
gree. A process has been patented for
securing this motion to the whisky
while lying in warehouses. A churn is
introduced into the barrels with their
bungs out, while machinery, propelled
by steam, animates the churn and
causes continued stirring of the whisky.
A short time of this process, it is
claimed, materially ages the whisky.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

67

A question has arisen before the In-
ternal Revenue Department as to
whether this process does not come un-
der the head of rectifying. If it does
the whisky so aged will have to go on
the market with a rectifier's stamp on.

Management of Window Plants. —
The Horticulturist quotes the remark
of J. E. Feast, of Baltimore, on the
management of house plants, of which
the following are the leading points :
Place the plants as near the glass as
practicable, to get plenty of light.
"Windows facing the south are best.
Judicious watering is the most important
requisite. In winter keep the plants,
not then growing, rather dry. Increase
the moisture in spring, with the increase
of the sun's power, and the advance-
ment in growth. In summer, water
plentifully; decrease as cold weather
approaches. Never water a plant with-
out it is dry, and then water thoroughly,
so that the soil may get wet through.
Empty refuse water from the saucers,
give plenty of air on every fine day, and
avoid draughts. Screen the plants from
the dry air and dust of the room by a
curtain or inside wrindow. Syringe
whenever dust is deposited.

John Barleycorn. — The statement has
been made and reiterated in these col-
umns that California needs only time —
and that not of a century's duration —
to become one of the great world-cen-
tres of px'oduce and supply, and eveiy
day we learn of some event in com-
mercial circles that bears out and sup-
ports the statement. Distance has now
become a question of such secondary
consideration that it will not surprise
any one of our readers to learn that a
large brewery firm in Glasgow, Scot-
land, should send so far as California
for its barley ; but it is nevertheless a

matter of importance and congratula-
tion. This firm, one of the largest in
the industrial capital of Scotland, has,
after a series of steady and extensive
trials, come to the conclusion that for
malt there is no barley in the world to
equal the full, heavy grain of Califor-
nia fields. It is of course highly satis-
factory to secure such an indorsement,
although proof of the splendid brew-
ing qualities of California barley has
been furnished for some time past here
in San Francisco, where ale and beer is
now manufactured by half a dozen
firms, of such a quality as even to wean
the exiled Britisher, to a great extent,
from his thirst after the hale beverages
of the "old country." — Chronicle.

The Love of Flowers. — A lady cor-
respondent of the New York Times
makes the following appeal for encour-
agement from the liege lords of the
fairer portion of God's creation in the
rearing of flowers. The appeal is equal-
ly applicable to these regions. She
says:

' ' In your paper I read a communica-
tion from Mr. John B. Sands, stating
he loved flowers for their adornments,
and thought every home ought to have
them. I think every true lover of flow-
ers ought to extend him the right hand
of fellowship, that we have one man
who will say he loves flowers because
they are ornamental. As a rule they
think they look very nice, but it takes
so much time to keep them so. I con-
sider them a cheap luxury, one I can
not afford to be without. They are les-
sons of themselves, teaching us the
goodness of our Creator in placing so
much here to please the eye, as well as
nourishment for the body. All ladies
are lovers of flowers, as you can well at-
test by looking at bonnets, hats, etc.,
of the present time. I think if we

68

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

could have a little help from the gen-
tleman side of the house many homes
would look more inviting, and many of
us (if our hands are browned) rejoice
that we have such flowers to cheer us.
Come in the ranks, men, boys, one and
all, that you may watch the opening
buds and take pride in our great flow-
er-beds. See how much happier you
will be for a few hours' work, and how
much higher will be your aspirations."

The Natural Age of Fruit Trees. —
It seems to be the common belief that
there is no limit to the natural age of
Apple-trees. But this is certainly a
mistake. We all know that the Peach-
tree usually fails to be profitable at 12
to 15 years of age, and the Cherry and
Plum average only 20 to 30 years; the
Pear, in favorable circumstances, 40 to
50 years — in rare cases a much longer
time. So, also, the Apple-tree has its
natural limit, and although, like man's
life, the duration of the period of health
and vigor varies greatly, according to
constitution, nurture, climate, etc., its
approaching termination is clearly indi-
cated by signs of debility and disease.
On very deep and favorable soils, and
where the trees are not damaged by se-
verity of climate, Apple orchards are oc-
casionally found bearing fair .crops of
fruit at 80 to 100 years of age, but these
are nearly as rare as for their owners to
live so long. Very few farms have soil
of the best kind for an orchard, and ev-
erywhere our climate is either too
warm, or at times too cold, for the best
health of the trees. Injury by severe
cold, blackening all the wood, except as
new growth is formed, I am convinced
is a very common cause of the prema-
ture failure of orchards; but starvation,
in consequence of exhaustion of the
soil, is still more common, and this is a
more difficult matter to remedy than

most people suppose, especially when
trees have attained to a size for the full
bearing of fruit.

Value of Trees in Towns. — Mr Grif-
fiths, the medical officer of health for
Sheffield, England, in his report upon
the sanitary condition of that town dur-
ing 1874, makes the following interest-
ing remarks in reference to street trees:
" In the formation of new streets, and
on the eve of the contemplated widen-
ing and alteration of old ones, it is to
be hoped that an effort may be made to
provide for the planting and establish-
ment of trees wherever practicable. The
pleasing appearance of verdure in sum-
mer, and the agreeableness of the shade
afforded by the foliage to pedestrians,
are benefits to the inhabitants well
worth the effort and cost. Whoever
has visited the boulevards of continent-
al towns, or even the squares of Lon-
don, can testify to the advantage of
verdure as offering pleasure to the eye
and gratification to the mind. More-
over, from a sanitary point of view, the
benefits are of incalculable value. It
has been asserted that the aggregate
surfaces of the leaves of well-grown
Elms, Limes, and Sycamore trees, with
their 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 leaves,
equal about 2,000,000 square feet, or
about five acres; and these are almost
constantly absorbing and digesting the
carbonic acid and various exhalations
given off by the putrefaction of animal
and vegetable matter, and, as if grateful
for such support, return into the air
pure oxygen, which reinvigorates and
renews animal life. Trees thus remove
poison from our midst, and to be with^
out them is an oversight. Trees can be
had which will exist, with suitable at-
tention, in any part of the city. Why
not, with all the above facts before us,
have them and try them ? "

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

69

Wonderful Fruit Tkees. — The Grass
Valley Union says : ' 'We have read fre-
quently of late about fruit trees in this
part of the State that have borne the
second crop. Ben. Taylor, who has a
fine orchard in the west end of town,
has some trees that can beat all those
second-crop trees. He has a Bartlett
pear tree that ripened a first crop this
year, and that first crop has been gath-
ered and eaten. The second crop is
now ripe and ready to be gathered ; the
third crop is almost ripe; the fourth
crop of pears is but little smaller than
the third ; the fifth is getting along fine-
ly, and the sixth and seventh crops show
their regular graduations of size in
fruit, while the tree is blooming for the
eighth crop. We have in our office a
bough from the tree which shows dis-
tinctly the eight crops, excepting, of
course, the first. Mr. Taylor has also
an apple tree which has done something
this year in the way of bearing crops.
A small twig in our possession shows a
fine ripe apple, any number of small
apples about one-third grown, and a
number of blooms for a third crop.
But the pear tree beats anything we
have seen in the line of prolific bear-

Sandal-wood. — The Sandal-wood out
of which so many fans are made, and
which is so much used on account of its
strong scent, comes from a tree that at-
tains maturity in about twenty -five years.
The older the tree, the nearer the heart-
wood comes to the surface, while the
bark becomes deeply wrinkled, is red
underneath, and frequently bursts, dis-
closing in old specimens the absence of
all sapwood. Such trees, whatever their
size may be, should at once be felled, as
they rapidly deteriorate. The heart-
wood is hard and heavy. The best
parts are used for carving boxes, album-

covers, desks, and other useful and or-
namental articles. The roots, which
are the richest in oil, and the chips go
to the still, while Hindoos who can af-
ford it show their wealth and their re-
spect for their departed relatives by ad-
ding sticks of sandal-wood to the funeral
pile. The wood, either in powder or
rubbed up into a paste, is employed by
all Brahmins in their pigments used in
their distinguishing caste marks. The
oil forms the basis of many scents, and
is sometimes used for impregnating
with its scent articles which, being
really carved with common wood, are
passed off as if made from true sandal.

The New England Elms. — Now and
then Nature asserts herself, and does
something so astonishing and overpower-
ing as actually to strike through the crust
of human stupidity, and convince man-
kind that a tree is something greater
than they are. As a general thing the
human race has a stupid hatred of trees.
They embrace every chance to cut them
down. They have no idea of their fit-
ness for anything but firewood or fruit-
bearing. But a great cathedral elm, with
shadowy aisles of boughs, its choir of
whispering winds and chanting birds,
its hush and solemnity and majestic
grandeur, actually conquers the dull hu-
man race and asserts its right to be in
a manner to which all hearts respond;
and so the great elms of New England
have got to be regarded with a sort of
pride among her very few crown jewels.
— Mrs. Stoice.

Extermination of Thistles. — The Ber-
lin correspondent of Land and Water
published a piece of information that
will be welcome to many a farmer.
"Who ever knew," says he, "of two
plants being so inimical to one another
as one to kill the other by a mere touch ?

70

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

This, however, seems to be the case
when rape grows near the thistle. If a
field is infested by thistles give it a turn
of rape seed, and this plant will alto-
gether starve, suffocate, and chill the
thistles out of existence. A trial was
made with different varieties of rape
seeds in square plots, when it was found
that the whole ground was full of this-
tles, and nobody believed that the rape
was having a fair run. But it had, and
as it grew, the thistles vanished, faded,
turned gray, and dried up as soon as
the rape leaves began to touch it. Other
trials were then made in flower pots and
garden beds, and the thistles always
had to give in, and were altogether an-
nihilated, whether old and fully devel-
oped, or young and tender.''

The Art of Skeletonizing Leaves. —
The subject having -excited a little in-
terest among some horticulturists lately,
owing to the exhibition of very beauti-
fully executed examples at some of the
large provincial exhibitions held in the
northern and midland counties of En-
gland, I took the liberty of appealing
to a lady friend, who has been very suc-
cessful as a skeletonizer of foliage, re-
questing her to favor me with the modus
operandi by which she produces her
specimens with such perfect complete-
ness. My informant states at the out-
set that the art of skeletonizing leaves
and flowers would be found much less
difficult of accomplishment were the
nature and character of the various
plants thoroughly studied at first. This
is, no doubt, a very important matter.
For instance, it would be but a poor di-
rection to the learner to say: " Gather
the leaves on a certain day," unless
proper attention be also paid to the
leaves chosen. They must have reach-
ed a certain degree of maturity, neither
too old nor too young; and as all leaves

do not reach this point at the same time,
it is obvious that care must be taken
that each kind must be gathered when
fit for use. The leaves of the magno-
lia, for instance, may be gathered when
the plant is in bloom, varying in time
from June until August. They will re-
quire from a month to six weeks' time
to be well immersed, and so be easy to
dissect, as the fibre is so strong. The
leaves of the ivy rank among the most
difficult, and, because of the peculiar
beauty of the fibre, will amply repay
the trouble involved in the preparation.
These may be immersed from the be-
ginning of May to October, but should
be leaves of the previous year's growth.
All leaves will not answer for dissect-
ing, but those that have been most suc-
cessfully operated on are from the mag-
nolia, ivy, pear, rose, holly, orange,
poplar, willow, elm, lime, service tree,
Spanish and horse chestnuts, and the
oak. The leaves of the last-named
should not, however, be put into the
same vessel with the others, as it af-
fects them in an undesirable manner.
Seed vessels may also be dissected in
an admirable manner ; such as those of
the stramonium, winter cherry, poppy,
etc. To procure good specimens, put
the leaves into a deep jar, and cover
them with soft water, which must not
be changed; the jar is then to be put
into a cool place. When, upon exami-
nation, the leaves are found to be quite
soft, they must be carefully brushed in
a weak solution of chloride of lime for
a short time, to whiten the fibre, and
afterward washed well in two or three
waters, and dried carefully between
sheets of blotting paper or linen ; after
which they are ready for mounting. To
make stems for this purpose, thread,
stiffened with gum, is most useful, and
it has a natural appearance. The leaves
may be formed into bouquets or wreaths,

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

71

according to the taste of the operator,
and should be placed under glass shades
to preserve them from harm. I have
seen groups of leaves so prepared, that
formed most acceptable table ornaments
in sitting and drawing - rooms ; and it
suggests a pleasant employment for the
fair sex, with which to fill up moments
of leisure. It is evident that much nice
discrimination in the selection of the
right leaves is required; and a light and
careful manipulation is also essential ;
and in the case of failure from a first
attempt, no small amount of patience is
needed to carry the operator through to
ultimate success. — .R. D., in Land and
Water.

Osage Okange as a Fence. — First, the
ground should be well prepared before
setting the plants. If the ground is
soddy or very trashy, it should be plow-
ed in the fall. If plowed only in the
spring, it will be impossible to get it in
a suitable condition. The better the
ground is prepared, the better will be
the growth of the plants. As soon as
the ground is perfectly settled in the
spring and well prepared, the plants
ought to be set out. It is too often the
case that it is neglected till as late as
May; and by that time dry weather sets
in, and the plants die for the want of
moisture. There are different opinions
about the manner of setting out plants.
In order to make a complete and neat
fence, the plants should be set close;
not farther apart than six inches, and
four inches apart is close enough; but
six will do. It is very necessary to pro-
cure fresh, vigorous plants, of one year's
growth. Plants that have been out of
the ground all winter, are not fit to set
out, for many of them are nearly dead
and will not grow. A hedge row is like
many other things, the better they are
cultivated, the better and thriftier they

will grow — the first year in particular.
If they are not cultivated, they will do
but little good. There is no use trying
to make a hedge fence without proper
attention, both in cultivation and prun-
ing. After one year's growth in the
row, they should be cut off one inch
above the ground, with pruning shears,
smooth and neatly, in the spring before
the sap begins to flow. The pruning,
in its proper season, is one of the most
essential things. In order to have vig-
orous growth, prune in the spring, and
so continue, none but spring or winter
pruning till the hedge is established at
a desired height, and ever after prune
in June and August, which prevents
the rank growth, and causes a thick,
bushy top; but if pruned in the summer
before it reaches its established height,
it forms a dwarf too soon. If there are
no vacancies in the row, a complete
fence can be established in three or four
years. The second spring they should
be cut off about three inches above the
ground; and the third spring the thick-
ness of the hedge should test the matter.
If this treatment is strictly followed, we
will warrant a good fence. This infor-
mation has required several years expe-
rience. An old hedge, fifteen feet high,
can be made a good fence, by this treat-
ment, after cutting it down close to the
ground.

House Plants do the best in rather
cool rooms, or at a temperature not so
high as 60°. This is the reason that we
often see finer plants in the cottages of
the mechanic and laboring man, than in
the warm, furnace-heated mansion of
the rich. In the latter, however, much
improvement may be made by keeping
the air-chamber of the furnace abun-
dantly and constantly supplied with
evaporating water — at least eight or ten
gallons daily for a medium-sized furnace ;

71

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTUKIST.

and if the plants still appear to suffer
from dry air, hang wet napkins over
them. If this attention cannot be given,
the plants should be selected from such
sorts as grow naturally in dry climates,
such as the Cactus, Sedum, etc. House
plants are often injured by the accumu-
lation of dust in sweeping, which may
be partly remedied by sprinkling, but
more easily by placing Jarge funnels of
tissue paper inverted over the plants till
the dust settles. Tissue paper is best,
on account of its little weight on the
plants.

The Best Sweet Corn. — Every season
we plant two or three varieties of sweet
corn, some for early and the Stowell's
Evergreen for late use. The variety
which gives most satisfaction is one sent
out by the Agricultural Department
some years ago, under the name of
"Brill's Early Extra Sweet." It is
much sweeter and tenderer than any
other variety we have used, and quite
early. "We have had it ready for eating
sixty days from planting. The ears are
good size for so early a variety, and the
corn so sweet that it makes even so good
a kind as Stowell's Evergreen seem al-
most tasteless. We have almost con-
cluded that successful plantings of this
best kind will prove more profitable
than trying to grow early and late va-
rieties for use through the season.

The Catalpa. — This familiar tree,
says Landreth's Rural Register, indig-
enous to the greater portion of the
Union, has been long known to a limit-
ed number to possess wood of an endur-
ing quality for posts; as lasting, it is
claimed, as the black or yellow locust
— Robinia pmedo-acacia — but, fortunate-
ly unlike it, exempt from insect attack.
Indeed, so far as our observation has
extended, it is not liable to disease di-

rect or consequential; and as the tree
grows readily from seed, there need be
no. impediment in propagating it to any
extent desired. Fence rows, bound-
aries, lanes, the roadside, impracticable
plats of ground, inaccessible knolls,
might each be seized upon for planting
this useful and ornamental tree. The
labor in doing so will be well repaid.

A new variety of Peach, called the
Chinese Cling, has been introduced in
Napa from Tennessee, and several small
lots of Cranberry plants have been set
out in reclaimed swamp lands.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,

Foe the Month ending January 31, 1876.

(Prepared for The Horticultubist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
423 Washington Street, near the Post Office) .
BABOMETEE.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.11 in.

do 12m 30.10

do 3 p. m 30.09

do 6 p. m 30.08

Highest point on the 29th at 9 a.m. and 12 m 30.39

Lowest point on the 6th at 6 p. m 29.64

THEBMOMETEB.
( With north exposure and free from reflected heat. J

Mean height at 9 a. m 46°

do 12 m 51°

do 3 p. m 52°

do 6 p. M 48°

Highest point on the 5th at 12 m 58c

Lowest point on the 21st at 6 p. m 38°

SELF-EEGISTEBING THEBMOMETEB.

Mean height during the night 40°

Highest point at sunrise on the 5th 47°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 21st 31°

WINDS.
North and north-east on 14 days ; south - east and
south-west on 15 days; west on 2 days.

WEATHEE.
Clear all day 8 days; cloudy all day 15 days; variable
on 8 days; rain on 14 days.

BAIN GAUGE. Inches.

1st 0.12

2d ; 0.30

3d 1.40

4th 0.21

6th 0.53

7th 0.87

8th.... 0.01

19th 0.26

20th 0.08

22d 0.47

23d 1.73

24th 0.15

26th 0.27

30th 0.01

Total 6.41

Previously reported 10.03

Total for the season 16.44

California Sporting and Harvest Scene,

California Camping-out Scene.

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI.

SAJST FRANCISCO, MARCH, 1876.

No. 3.

YUCCA AND ALOE LILIES.

BY DR. A. KELLOGG.

These denizens of the sandy desert,
and picturesque ornaments of the other-
wise barren and almost inaccessible
rocky crags, are at length, in some de-
gree, as they ought, enlisting public at-
tention. Let us view them first as
aesthetic objects of interest or ornamen-
tation, and. then consider briefly their
claims in the lower region of every-day
use, or in the gross. We have neither
time nor space to dwell at length upon
the merits of this stately, palm-like, and
tropical looking vegetation. Suffice it
to say, they furnish conspicuous and
charming ornaments to rural retreats,
absolutely requiring but little special
care. Though grateful in growth and
bounteous in blossom, like all things
beneath the sun when wisely cherished
and duly cared for, yet they may be al-
ways deemed by nature the hardy sons
of the desert. No burning sun bleach-
es, nor drought destroys them; frosts
and storms disturb not, the fierce winds
fret not their rigid foliage. Trim as an
outpost sentinel, they stand firm and
true to the flag against the vandal sands
of desert or sea-shore, or the driving

Vol. VI.— 6.

dunes that threaten to bury all things
beneath the billows of desolation.

These ' ' Bayonet " plants are the nat-
ural advance picket-guards of civiliza-
tion and settlement; shelterers, reform-
ers, and pioneers, prophetic of the syl-
van scenery of the landscape that is to
follow their footsteps; they are the
charmed harmonizers and mediators be-
tween such scenery, through and side
by side with Sedums and Cacti, to the
more delicate and tender floral decora-
tions of lawns and gardens. They de-
light in the glare of sunshine. They
seem at home camped on any soil; they
only ask an open and fair field for their
arms ; they will also defy dust and
smoke, and dwell in cities, or along the
highways of men. As they have no
very strong hold on the soil, they are
neither aggressive in root, nor is the
top over shadowing. They may there-
fore be placed close in near the bound-
ary of plants requiring continual and
careful culture; or, like good police-
men, they may be judiciously distribut-
ed among the society of the most useful
and ornamental sorts of their commu.
nity.

To review these as fibre-plants alone
would be to write a voluminous treatise.

74

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

They will ere long be adequately utiliz-
ed for clothing, cordage, paper, etc.
Mr. Walker, of Los Angeles, we see, is
starting a paper-mill at the Mohave
Desert, for making note, news, and oth-
er papers of these Bayonet plants. We
trust all such new enterprises may prove
successful.

Shoet-leafed Yucca ( Yucca brevifolia
Eng.) — This tree -like species, in its
ultimate floral growth, or final expan-
sion into its flowering state, attains from
ten to thirty feet in height by eight
inches to two feet in diameter; bark
thick and rough; branches three to six
feet in length, the short narrow dagger-
like leaves crowded at the ends of these
branches; edges of leaves finely saw-
toothed, a straight-line taper from base
to point; masses of white, nodding, lily-
like flowers close set at the ends
of the branches. At first this plant
lias only a radiated cluster of short
root-leaves of from four to six inches,
so that it occupies but a small space of
ground. This will prove one of the
most ornamental and desirable species.
The fibre is said to be fine as silk and
very strong, readily taking the aniline
colors. This class of liliaceous or al-
oetical plants very providently store up
their treasures of starch and sugar to a
very large amount, preparatory to their
conjugal and convivial day of blossom
and of fruit, which, for the most part,
is every other year; yet some march pa-
tiently onward to great Sabbatical sea-
sons of jubilee, or epochs of centennial
joy and gladness.

The very large, vigorous, and tender
flower-stem buds are often cut off at an
early period of growth, and roasted or
boiled, by the native red rover of the
desert, as a delicious dish. Dr. Palmer
has observed that this plant, having
once set its heart on blooming, is not so
easily baulked by the hand of man.

Being decapitated, the parent plant be-
queathes the acquired fortune to the
eldest plantlet previously provided for
an emergency, and the heir-apparent
takes up and carries out the last will
and testament of the departing or dead
parent, prematurely blooming in its
stead.

Besides viewing these Bayonet-trees
and plants as boundary or border vege-
tation, verging toward the last limits of
vegetable life on the desert, a word
might be expected as to their medical
use. The Aloes furnish one of our
most important purgative and tonic res-
inous drugs. The seed-vessels of Yuc-
cas are also purgatives and somewhat
diuretic. The mucilaginous and starchy
quality is often combined with & finale
of more permanent pungency or expec-
torant property, like the common Soap-
root. In medical effect, this deobstru-
ent action closely allies them with the
renowned Sarsaparilla.

TEEES EEMAKKABLE FOE THEIE GI-
GANTIC GROWTH AND GEEAT AGE.

BY A BOTASTIST.

Every country possesses these vege-
table giants, and this, too, from the
most different groups of trees. India
has its Banyan; Africa, its Baobab;
Germany, its Linden; England, its an-
cient Oaks and Yews; and California,
its magnificent mammoth trees and
Redwoods which belong to the natural
order Coniferae, and the former of which
are upward of 300 feet in height.

A Chestnut tree is now growing on
the side of Mount iEtna, in Sicily, the
stem of which is hollow, and 180 feet in
circumference. It consists, in reality,
of several stems which have grown to-
gether at their base, and whose crowns
are concealed within one another. It

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

75

is called by the natives " Castagna di
cento cavalla," because a hundred horse-
men can find shelter in its interior. The
age of this tree is unknown, but its im-
mense size proves its great antiquity.
It is indeed a noble tree, which has out-
lived and sheltered many successive
generations.

By Neustadt, in the kingdom of Wur-
temburg, in Germany, stands a Linden
tree, which must have been very old in
1229; for an old tradition says that the
city, which was formerly called Helm-
bundt, was destroyed in 1226, and was
again rebuilt in 1229 near the great Lin-
den. This Linden was so remarkable
and well known, that for centuries the
Germans were accustomed to speak of
Neustadt as the city "near the great
Lindeu." In a poem written in 1408,
it is described as growing near the gate
of the city, its branches being support-
ed by sixty-seven pillars. In the year
1664 there were eighty-two, and in
1832, 106 of them. They were built of
stone, and erected just as they were re-
quired, in accordance with the increase
in the horizontal growth of the branch-
es. The oldest inscriptions on these
pillars bear the respective dates of 1558,
1562, and 1583, with the name and es-
cutcheons of those who erected them.
In the year 1832, the stem of this tree
was, at the height of 6 feet above the
ground, 37 feet 6 inches in circumfer-
ence. It must, therefore, have been
from 750 to 800 years old, at the lowest
estimate. Since 1832, it has suffered so
much by tempests that it is now almost,
comparatively speaking, a complete
ruin.

Walnut trees, also, occasionally reach
a great age. There is one in the Bai-
dar Valley, near Balaklava, in the Cri-
mea, which is at least 1,000 years old.
It yields annually from 80,000 to 100,-
000 nuts, and belongs to five Tartar

families, who share its produce equally
between them.

Cedars are yet found on Mount Leb-
anon, in Syria, supposed to be the re-
mains of the forest which furnished
Solomon with timber for the Jewish
Temple 3,000 years ago. They were
examined by Belonius in 1550, who
found them twenty-eight in number.
In 1696, Maundrell counted only six-
teen; and in 1818, according to Dr.
Richardson, there were still seven of
them left. There can be no doubt as
to the great age of these trees. Maun-
drell mentions the size of one of them,
which was 30 feet 6 inches in circum-
ference, and 117 feet in the spread of
its boughs.

There are Oaks now growing in En-
gland, which were planted before the
time of the Norman conquest, in 1066,
and which are therefore more than 800
years old.

The Yew-trees (Taxus baccata) are
still older. One of these trees, located
at Fountain's Abbey, near Ripon, in
Yorkshire, was examined by Pennant,
in 1770, and was then more than 1,200
years old; and another, in the church-
yard of Braburn, in Kent, according to
the measurement of Evelyn, in 1660,
had then attained an age of 2820 years,
and consequently, is now more than
3,000 years old.

The so-called American Cypress
(Taxodium distichum) found in Florida,
in southern Louisiana, and in Mexico,
has not unfrequently, at a height of 120
feet above the ground, a circumference
of 40 feet, and must, therefore, be very
old. A fine specimen of this tree now
grows in the garden of Chepultepec,
Mexico, which was of immense size at
the time of the conquest of Mexico by
the Spaniards, in 1520, and was then
known as Montezuma's Cypress; and in
the province of Oaxaca, in the same

76

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

country, still stands the same Cypress
which sheltered the troops of Ferdi-
nand Cortez. These trees are at least
4,000 years old; in fact, de Candolle
considers thern to be much older.

But the most remarkable trees, per-
haps, in the world are found in Califor-
nia. The Sequoia gigantea, popularly
known in the district where it grows as
the " Mammoth "Washington Tree," was
first discovered by the English traveler
and naturalist, Lob, on the Sierra Ne-
vada, at an elevation of 5,000 feet, and
near the source of the Stanislaus and
San Antonio rivers, although a hunter
discovered the Calaveras trees. These
trees belong to the natural order Con-
iferce, or the Pine family, and grow 250
and even 400 feet in height. The bark,
which is of cinnamon color, is from
12 to 18 inches thick; the wood "reddish
but soft and light; and the stem is
from 10 to 20 feet in diameter. The
branches grow almost horizontally from
the stem; their foliage resembles that
of the Cypress; yet notwithstanding the
monstrous size of these trees, their
cones are only two inches and a half in
length, resembling those of the Wey-
mouth Pine (Pinus sfrobus); while the
Auracauria or South American, although
far inferior in size to the Sequoia, pro-
duces cones of the form and magnitude
of a child's head.

But the Baobab (Adamonia digitata)
surpasses even the trees of California in
grandeur and antiquity. It is the old-
est vegetable monument on earth. Its
stem is only from 10 to 12 feet in height,
but of immense proportions, for it is 34
feet in diameter. Its colossal circum-
ference is an absolute necessity, because,
from its summit it unfolds so vast a leaf-
crown that it can only be supported on
such a massive foundation. The main
branch rises perpendicularly to a height
of 60 feet, and from it branches extend

themselves to a distance of from 50 to
60 feet horizontally on all sides; so that
they form a noble leaf -crown, whose di-
ameter is more than 160 feet, giving to
a single tree the appearance of a whole
forest. The leaves of the Baobab are
palmate, and forcibly remind us of the
Horse-chestnut — being divided to the
leaf-stalk. It is covered with malvace-
ous-like flowers, which droop on their
peduncles. The fruit is about the size
of a small gourd.

Although some trees live for thou-
sands of years, yet the life of all must
sooner or later terminate, for to each
tree, equally with the lowly plants
which grow beneath its shade, a limited
period of life has been allotted. This
period may vary with the favorable or
unfavorable circumstances in which the
tree is placed, and depends also on the
greater or less amount of life-force with
which the embryo was endowed in the
beginning; but, nevertheless, the life of
all trees has its appointed period, like
their forms, altitudes, and other speci-
fic peculiarities.

The following catalogue of trees will
show how the age of the same tree may
vary: The Palm lives from 200 to 300
years; Larch (Larix Europea), from 263
to 576 years; Chestnut (Castaneavesca),
from 360 to 626 years; "Walnut (Jug-
lans regia), from 900 to 1,000 years;
Olive (Olea Europea), from 700, 1,000
to 2,000 years; Orange {Citrus oranti-
cum), from 400, 509 to 646 years; Yew
(Taxus baccata), from 1,466, 2,588 to
2,880 years; Oak (Quercus Europea),
from 860, 1,000 to 1,400 years.

To Detect Leaks in Gas Pepes. — Ap-
ply soapsuds to the susj)ected leaky
joint. The formation of bubbles will
show any escape. This is safer than
trying the joint with a lighted match.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

77

THE SECEETS OF ANGLING.

BY PISCATOE.

Long and attentive practice in fishing,
as in any other art, will enable a person
to offer some valuable hints in connec-
tion with that, to those who have only
partially but yet lovingly entered into
it, most fascinating sport and amuse-
ment. We therefore propose in this
article to impart some knowledge which
may, at any rate, be useful to begin-
ners, if not to the more experienced in
the craft. We will first speak of the
reel, so necessary an appendage to the
rod that it is not worth while to dilate
upon its advantages. There can be no
doubt that the common pillar-reel for
all ordinary purposes, either for trout or
salmon fishing, is very good, and if
made narrow in width, broad in diame-
ter, thick in the axle, and with a fric-
tion-plate interposed between the drum
of the reel and the end plate, is one of
the safest and most efficient for general
use. The click-reel is that kind which
emits a rattling noise, either when the
line is paid out or wound in. This reel
when new and well finished is certainly
a very neat piece of apparatus, but in
time it is apt to wear in its working and
may stop altogether. There is a reel
called the Meek — the name of the mak-
er, at Frankfort, Ky. — which is an ad-
mirable piece of mechanism, the inside
works of the finest and best steel, the
outside of excellent German silver, and a
fourfold multiplier, and good for all pur-
poses, but especially bass fishing. It is,
perhaps, the most expensive of all reels,
but it will last probably much longer
than a life-time. Another reel lately
come out is the Orvis reel. This is ex-
tra nickel-plated and finely finished; is
perforated with holes, to make it light
and keep it free from sand; also that
these perforations may have somewhat

of the effect to keep the line dry with-
out the absolute necessity, though we
think it would be always better, of re-
moving it from the reel after use. It
has certainly a very perfect click. It is
very light, seems strong, and would be
well adapted, we think, especially for a
one-handled light fly-fishing rod, and it
holds forty to fifty yards of line. It is
certainly more compact and less cum-
bersome than ordinary twenty or thirty-
yard reels. It is quite narrow, and
takes up line pretty rapidly. The com-
mon pillar-reels are made of different
materials, as rubber, brass, and steel,
and are only moderately expensive.
The stop-reel — we would rather call it
the stop sport reel — is provided with a
small lever working horizontally, one
end of which projects beyond the cir-
cumference of the plate at one end, and
is held in a notch in the plate by a
spring, when the reel is locked; while
the other catches into the teeth of a
small wheel upon the end of the barrel,
when the action of the reel is complete-
ly suspended. On releasing the lever
from the notch, and pushing it to the
opposite side, it is again allowed to
act. We regard this sort of reel as
scarcely worth notice, were it not for
the purpose of warning others from
risking both their sport and reputation
by the use of such a bauble. We can
easily imagine the plight of some un-
lucky brother furnished with one of
these mischievously ingenious pieces of
mechanism, who has unwittingly placed
the stop in the lock, and rendered his
reel motionless as a mooring-post, when
suddenly, a walloping Tahoe trout, or a
five-pound grilse or an old salmon takes .
it into his head to appropriate the bait
or fly, but not by any means relishing
the pungency of its flavor (as some wise-
acre has remarked, fish in general pre-
ferring baits or flies without stings) it

78

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICULTURIST.

darts full down stream, followed, no
doubt, by our disconcerted friend as
fast as legs can carry him, while, per-
haps, he has neither time nor presence
of mind to release the unfortunate stop ;
until splash, dash goes the fish, crash
goes the rod, flash goes the line, and
" pop goes the weasel," all owing to
the ill-fated stop. This is no fiction.
This has never happened to the writer,
because he has never used so dangerous
a man-trap. But we once witnessed an
instance of this mishap in another
angler, and doubtless it has occurred to
some others who have used this kind of
reel. Many and hearty have been the
wishes, without doubt, that the daily
viands of the inventor of this provoking
piece of mechanism were duly seasoned
with a mixture of cayenne pepper, wasp
stings, and fish-hooks. The narrow
reels are always the best, for the rea-
son that in winding in the line very
fast, which is very necessary when a
large and strong fish runs into you, it
may not overlie, and so be stopped
when the fish rushes out again from
you. As to lines, we regard those made
of hair and silk sj)un together as decid-
edly the lightest, strongest, and most
durable, although waterproof silk makes
also a good one. Those made entirely
of hair, require to be too thick and
clumsy in dimensions in order to be of
the requisite strength. Every reel-line
ought to be so gradually tapered for
twelve feet from the end, that its ter-
mination may not be thicker or heavier
than strong salmon-gut, a link of which
may be securely whipped to it, having
another finer length knotted to it, with
a loop at the end to which the fly-line
is to be attached; thus dispensing alto-
gether with those abominations called
casting -lines, usually interposed be-
tween the reel-line and the gut-cast.
Gut, both for salmon and trout, should

be as round and smooth as wire; and
for trout lines it can scarcely be too
fine, provided it is round and even.
Gut of this description is incredibly
strong compared to its dimensions.

The ordinary fish-creel is constructed
of basket-work, and is both light and
handy; but it has one grave fault, viz.,
that of allowing the fish to become com-
pletely shriveled up and spoiled in dry
warm weather. To remedy this, an oil-
cloth lining, made to fit the inside of
the creel or pannier accurately, to which
it may be attached by hooks and eyes,
or buttons, will both keep it clear of all
filth, and prevent the fish from shrivel-
ing in dry weather, while it can be re-
moved and washed after being used.

To the angling tourist who may
chance to fall in with different kinds of
fish, some of which, as salmon and
pike (Sacramento " pike " included),
would be too large to be stowed away
in an ordinary sized trout-pannier, a
waterproof bag made of Mackintosh
cloth will be found a much more conve-
nient article than a creel. And if it be
divided into two compartments by a
longitudinal septum in the middle, it
will be found exceedingly useful, not
only as a receptacle for fish, but also for
a shirt or two, fishing tackle, etc.

At the end of each season it is advis-
able to revarnish your rod and lay it
carefully aside. The following varnish
will be found excellent, possessing a
strong body, and becoming quickly dry :
Gum sanderach, 4 oz. ; Pale seed lac, 2
oz.; Gum elemi, 1 oz.; Alcohol, 1
quart. Agitate the gums occasionally
till dissolved, and then add Venice Tur-
pentine, 2 oz. If a brown color is de-
sired, add four drams of brown, or two
drams of black sealing-wax. Half a
dozen coats of shellac dissolved in rec-
tified spirits of wine may also answer
the purpose very well, and the addition

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

79

of dragon's blood will give it a reddish
brown color. Boiled linseed oil may
also be used, or a solution of caoutchouc
(India rubber) in ether. But they do
not look so well as the varnish, although
they will equally well protect the wood
against damp and insects.

WINDS — STORMS —WEATHER.

BY NATUEALIST.

The trade - winds to which our coast
is subject form an interesting topic for
our consideration, as well as winds and
storms in general. 'With the exception
of the parts of the earth and sea sub-
ject to the monsoons, which differ from
the trade- winds in being periodical and
not perennial, and which occupy the
place of the trades as regular winds in
those portions of the ocean where they
occur, the trade-winds are constant and
steady, but they do not blow always
and eveiywhere from the same quarter.
They are in some places east winds, es-
pecially on the western side of the seas
they affect. They are also more to be
depended on on the western than on
the eastern side of an ocean, and are
hardly sensible at times, excejot in the
open sea. They are generally stronger
in the hemisphere in which the sun is
not vertical, and are there also less east-
erly and more normal in their character.
The weather, as we find here on this
slope, is almost invariably fine and dry
when the trade - winds are blowing.
These winds are, as we have said, more
distinct in the Atlantic than in the Pa-
cific Ocean. In the former, also, they
are wider and more powerful on the
more southern American side.

The usual mode in which great storms
occur is by circular, or rather by spiral,
movements in the great body of the at-
mosphere, ranging over limited and

often very small districts. Our trade-
winds in California begin to blow on
our coast about May, and continue until
October, between which periods the
weather is dry for a long distance in-
land. These winds cannot be said to
have at any time the great force of hur-
ricanes, but are sometimes sufficiently
powerful to blow down trees, slightly
built houses, and fences. The greatest
storms of wind, accompanied sometimes
but quite rarely with thunder and light-
ning, occur almost entirely during our
rainy season. These strong winds blow
mostly from the south, but sometimes
we have severe northers. The phenom-
ena of storms are most interesting with
us, where the prosperity of the State
depends so much on rains. An almost
certain prognostic of rain, in our winters
chiefly, is the occurrence of three hot
days in succession. These three days
of heat almost always follow a norther.
As to the indications of winds and
weather here, owing to the peculiar
form of our coast and the interior ranges
of mountains, some near the ocean and
others a long distance from it, we can
not judge so well of the coming weath-
er, even in our winters, as the inhabit-
ants of many other parts of the world
can. Among human weather indicators
are our martyrs to rheumatism and neu-
ralgia, those who have felt the racking
pain from old and imperfectly healed
wounds, those from whom proceeds the
dry consumptive cough, and those who
suffer from bronchial irritation that no
artificial atmosphere can soothe. All
the conditions of the air which produce
the above and other evident effects in
both the animal and vegetable worlds,
as well as on weather and winds, are
the result of causes which, if clearly
understood in their relative inrportance
and mode of action, would be reducible
to direct observation and calculation.

80

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

They may be described in a few words
as being dependent on the pressure of
the air, the temperature of the air (not
only at the surface, but at various alti-
tudes), the dew-point or state of moist-
ure of the air, the rainfall, the clear or
cloudy state of the upper air, the direc-
tion of- the force of the wind, the elec-
trical state of the air, the presence or
absence of ozone, and the magnetic con-
dition of the earth and atmosphere.
The first and most important instrument
of observation is the barometer. It tells
one thing only — namely, the pressure
of the air at the moment of observa-
tion. It requires frequent and regular
notice. If the mercury falls slightly
but steadily for many hours, without
other indication of change, bad weather
will follow, and the longer it is delayed
the worse it will be. The thermometer
is of great value as a weather. indicator,
but for this purpose the average tem-
perature of the day at the place of ob-
servation must be known. A tempera-
ture continued for some time below or
above the average is apt to be an indi-
cation of change. Over the greater
portion of California, during the winter,
electric storms follow unusual warmth.
Peculiarities of weather, however great
and strongly marked, must not, even
when they extend over many years, as
they have occurred to us here, be as-
sumed to indicate permanent changes
of climate. If we look back to former
records of weather, we find that at all
times years of favorable seasons have
succeeded each other until the people
began to forget that the contrary might
happen ; and when the unfavorable time
comes, as in our late severe frosts, we
are by no means prepared to recognize
it as a part of a well marked series of
events. But this is certain, that so ac-
curate a knowledge of the laws that
govern the winds and weather as to en-

able us to foretell, especially on this
peculiar coast, what will happen some
time in advance, is neither common nor
easy of acquisition.

OUE MOUNTAIN LANDS.

Various causes have combined to re-
tard the settlement and cultivation of
the foot-hills and mountain lands of
the State, much of which is of the most
productive character. Considerable has
been written, but very little is yet
known as to the value of the hill land
of California. As with the swamps and
overflowed lands, the hills were care-
fully avoided by seekers after homes,
under the impression that the returns
would not compensate for the labor of
cultivating them. Men preferred going
back into the interior, away from mar-
ket, where they could have smooth sail-
ing, rather than use the side-hill plow
for cultivating, and the sled in the
place of a wheeled vehicle for removing
the crops. The scarcity of water has
been one of the greatest drawbacks to
the settling up of the hills in small
farms. While it is true that there is
generally plenty of water for stock, con-
sisting commonly of small streams flow-
ing down some large gulch, whose
source is a beautiful spring, it is not
usually the case that these water sup-
plies are distributed evenly on every
160 acres, and, as a result, the stock
raiser who could get possession of the
quarter section containing the water
course could, without fear of competi-
tion, inclose and hold, under the State
"possessory title" for unsurveyed
lands, a large tract of adjoining land,
much of which would be available for
agricultural purposes could water be
obtained. This law seems to have been
passed directly in the interest of land
grabbers, as under it they could inclose

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

81

a. thousand acres or more with a string
of brush, called a fence, and keep off
actual settlers and tillers.

THE RAILROAD COMPANIES

Have done much to break up these
large cattle ranges in the hills within
the limits of the grants to them of al-
ternate sections. They had the lands
surveyed, and in many instances sold
them to settlers, thus cutting up the
large ranges and placing the even sec-
tions within the reach of pre-emptors
and homestead claimants. This has
been noticeable in the range of hills ly-
iug between the Santa Clara and San
Joaquin valleys, and wherever a team
of horses can walk green fields of wheat
are to be seen in lieu of large droves of
cattle or sheep. People comiDg here
from the . "Western prairies are mute
with surprise to see the steep hill-sides
and the tops of the high peaks cultivat-
ed in grains and other crops. The
mode of farming in these hills is some-
what novel. In many places a side-hill
plow, consisting of a movable mold-
board and double-sided share, is used.
The plowman drives along the hill-
side, commencing at the bottom and
turning the furrow always down hill.
At the end of the furrow the team is
turned, the mold-board reversed, and
the plow still throws the dirt down-
ward. The soil beiug generally lighter
than in the valley a less quantity of
seed is required to the acre. In some
of these places the ground is so steep
that a team can not turn round without
danger of falling. The grain is sown
and harrowed in, and though the yield
is seldom more than twenty bushels to
the acre the farmer can depend upon
that amount through wet and dry sea-
sons, as it is a rare thing that the crops
are affected by drouth. A Kir by reap-
er, which has but one wheel and a stiff
knife, is used, the teams being driven

along the side-hill as in plowing. These
reapers are used often where it is too
steep for the driver to keep his seat,
and he is compelled to walk behind.
Small sleds with grain racks upon them
are used for stacking the grain. These
drawbacks of course make the labor of
farming almost double what it would be
on level land, and yet there is a large
number of farms in the hills east of San
Jose, as far down as Gilroy and Liver-
more Valley, whose owners make a
comfortable living.

THE RANGE EOR STOCK

In the hills and mountains adjacent,
where the land is too rough and pre-
cipitous to cultivate, is always abund-
ant in summer, and is free to all. By
this means the farmers are enabled to
raise quite a number of cattle, pastur-
ing them in the mountains in summer,
and turning them into the stubble
fields in winter, which, together with
the straw, is sufficient to keep them
until spring. The hills on the east of
the Santa Clara Valley are • generally
barren of timber, except in the gulches
and canyons, where scrub oak abounds.
Further back in the mountains near the
line of San Joaquin County there is
considerable pine, but it is not accessi-
ble. It is but a few years since these
lands were first surveyed, and now there
is scarcely a vacant quarter-section to
be found. They are valued at from
four to twenty dollars an acre. The
sections belonging to the Railroad
Company are nearly all bought up, the
price being six dollars an acre for un-
improved lands. Good fences, made of
redwood pickets, inclose most of the
land now farmed. Good school facili-
ties are generally to be obtained. On
the other side of the Santa Clara Val-
ley are the Santa Cruz Mountains,
which embrace soil and timber of a far
different character, being covered with

82

THE CALIFOBNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

redwood, pine, and oak. They are
more precipitous, and there are very
few farming tracts to be found. But
there are many of the lumbermen who
have pleasant little homes on the hill-
sides, or on some spot of level ground,
and almost invariably the comforts and
luxuries of fruit, vines, and garden
spots surround the rude cottages.

VINEYARDS AND OECHAEDS.

It is only of late years that the full
value of the highland soil has been de-
termined for grapes and fruit. Vines
planted on the hillside produce a far
sweeter grape, and more highly-flavor-
ed fruits of all kinds are also produced.
The peaches which grow far up the
hill-sides — even where snow falls in
winter — are far superior to those raised
on the lowlands. One of the first vine-
yards of raisin grapes planted on this
coast was that of B. Y. Bugbey, near
Folsom, and it is a noted fact that all
the land in that region is of a mineral
character, the vineyard being in the
very heart of one of the first mining-
camps in California. There are small
spots in the foothill soils which seem to
be peculiarly adapted to the grape, and
hence the success of Mr. Bugbey in his
experiments of raisin -making. This
vineyard is situated in the hills at the
very base of the Sierras and within
sight of the snow-covered heights. The
Fiber Zagos variety is the one that has
been most successful in this locality,
and Mr. Bugbey is of the opinion that
it is the best raisin grape that can be
raised in California.

WINE-MAKING.

The entire range of mountains from
Shasta to Santa Barbara, wherever it is
not too rugged for cultivation, is adapt-
ed specially to the growth of grapes
suitable for wine-making. The red,
volcanic character of the soil seems to
produce the very best conditions in the

grape for the making of choice wines.
In these altitudes the climate is entire-
ly free from extremes of heat and cold
in summer, which so often damage or
ruin the grape crop in the low lands.
It is very seldom that the few vineyards
scattered along the hillsides are visited
by mildew, to which the choice foreign
varieties seem to be especially suscepti-
ble. "Wines made in the hills have a
peculiarly delicate flavor which can not
be found anywhere else. If California
ever assumes any prominence in the
production of sparkling wines, which
no doubt she will, she must thank the
foot-hills for it. Mr. Bugbey has al-
ready proved that champagne of an ex-
cellent quality can be made from the
grapes in his vineyard, and although he
spent a great deal of money experiment-
ing before he finally succeeded, he has
now overcome the obstacles and proved
that it can be done.

EOOTHILLS FOE NUTS.

From experiments already tried, it is
safe to assert that the uplands of this
State may be turned to good account
by planting nut-bearing trees. The
chestnut, the introduction of which
into this State has been tried during
the past few years, would be a valuable
crop, but there are certain conditions of
soil and climate necessary to its suc-
cessful growth, which are not found in
the low lands. Wherever the tree has
been planted in the valleys, it has
proved of little account, seeming to die
out and become less vigorous as it
grows older. In the Sierra Nevada
District, El Dorado County, and also in
Placer County, those trees which have
been planted have grown and produced
a fair yield, and there is no question as
to the proposition that the hills are the
most suitable for the cultivation of this
nut, while almost every kind can be
propagated there.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

83

As yet the attention of strangers has
not been sufficiently called to the value
of lands for homes. The greatest draw-
back, as has been mentioned, is the un-
equal supply of water, and while there
is plenty for all, it is generally in the
shape of small streams running down
deep canyons. But in many places,
even on the steep mountain sides, wa-
ter has been found sufficient for house-
hold use and the wants of the farm, and
whenever water can be obtained by dig-
ging, there can a home be made, for
the soil of the hills is less subject to
drouth than the low lands. There is a
constant seepage from the land above
during summer, and it is very seldom
that any class of vegetation will suffer
for lack of moisture. The trouble has
been with the majority of emigrants
that they formed a too exalted idea of
what they would be able to accomplish
here. To those who come here with a
full understanding of the country and
a determination to act just as they
would if emigrating to Kansas or some
other agricultural State, there are many
opportunities to acquire a good home
and make a comfortable living in the
foothills.

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

Below we publish a valuable commu-
nication from a correspondent of the
Oakland Daily Transcript, entitled
" What is Needed — a Plea from a Hor-
ticulturist/' recommending a horticul-
tural society in Oakland. We entirely
agree with the writer on the usefulness
and general advantages of such an in-
stitution. We are sorry to say that our
Bay District Horticultural Society of
San Francisco is, for any good that it
has done for two or three years, entire-
ly defunct. When it was in tolerable
activity, and conferring benefits on the

community both in its meetings and
public exhibitions, it was chiefly under
the management of the professional
horticulturists and gardeners, and es-
pecially of an active, industrious and
enthusiastic member of one of our nur-
sery and floral establishments. He was
ably supported by several parties in a
similar business, but there were many
so engaged who stood aloof, and could
not be induced by any means to second
his efforts and those of his coadjutors.
In consequence of this the institution
suffered, and as there were but few
amateur cultivators that could then be
induced to join the Society, the majori-
ty of the members to cany on its busi-
ness were our regular nurserymen and
florists. These considered that they
had to attend closely to their nurseries,
conservatories, hot houses, and to cus-
tomers, and could only spare a few
hours in an evening meeting about once
a month. Thus the management of the
association necessarily fell into the
hands of the party or parties who were
anxious for its success. This created
some jealousies in a few persons, and
there were some minds which were not
sufficiently liberal, comprehensive, and
enlarged to be aware that whoever pro-
motes a good cause, beneficial to the
public, and which creates a taste and
demand for certain commodities, is con-
ferring a benefit upon all so commer-
cially occupied. If the Bay District
Horticultural Society is ever revived,
however, and it is very desirable for
the good of our people that it should be
some time or other, we trust that there
will be such an interest created for it
by amateur florists and cultivators that
they being in the majority, the direc-
tion of its affairs will be in their hands,
and so render the possibility of all envy
and jealousy, let it be ever so little, en-
tirely out of the question. Should we

84

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

ever be so fortunate as to get this asso-
ciation again into wholesome life and
action, we hope that there will be so
much love and interest created for its
welfare, that there may be a meeting
appointed for it at least twice a month
— say on Saturday mornings at about
ten or eleven o'clock, when all its bus-
iness may be transacted, discussions on
horticulture take place, specimens of
fruits and flowers, etc., exhibited, to be
judged by the several committees ap-
pointed for the purpose, and the gen-
eral public invited to witness all that
may be worth hearing and seeing, in
what can be made with proper judg-
ment a most valuable institution, as it
is in all large, refined, and civilized
communities:

" Let us have a horticultural society
in Oakland. There is a necessity for
one, for we are now cultivating many
rare plants, the habits and beauties
of which are but little known to the
general public. Many excellent varie-
ties of fruits that are merely local and
their culture neglected would be made
known and cultivated. A taste for the
beautiful would be encouraged, land-
scape gardening, now thought little of
and declining, would revive. Our rural
homes would grow in beauty, and the
magic influence of honest garden en-
joyments would confer new beauties all
over the land; flowers, evergreens, trees
and golden fruit would gladden every
home. Medicinal plants for profit, ex-
periments in vegetable physiology, seed-
ling varieties of fruits and flowers adapt-
ed to our climate and soil, would pro-
duce wonderful results. Our boys and
girls would learn to appreciate a love
for botany; there would be a better
tone in society; they would be more
fond of a new Rose than a new novel;
the gardens at home would not be neg-
lected ; there would be purer society

if the people were to cultivate a love for
gardening and a

■ Quiet bower of Arcadian sweets,
"Where odorous plants, in evening fair,
Breathe all around ambrosial air.'

" Horticulture exalts the mind to a
better understanding and prepares our
intellect for the better knowledge of
God's vivifying love. Let this good
work bring rich and poor to multiply
their mutual garden operations, and the
good results will abundantly repay them.
The Royal Horticultural Society of
England has done more to harmonize
and ameliorate the social welfare of
that nation than her army and navy to-
gether. Often will an English noble-
man stop his carriage to look at some
beautiful flower or fruit by the way-side
cottage garden. This makes the gentry
popular with the lower classes, and the
English landscape, so full of home-life,
creates pleasant attachments in the
hearts of the people. How is it here in
Oakland, where we have a semi-tropi-
cal climate in which the Orange and
Olive grow in the open air? Now, it is
a well known fact that not one gentle-
man in twenty cares to walk or spend
ten minutes in a garden; their minds
are wrapped up by ever anxious cares,
and their unsettled hearts have no home
feelings for anything but the almighty
dollar. Let some of our enterprising
citizens call a public meeting to organ-
ize a horticultural society, and our nur-
serymen and gardeners will cordially
respond. The results will be that in a
short time Oakland will have a public
park, and, perhaps, in time not far dis-
tant, a botanical garden that will equal
any in the world. A. D. P."

Flowees are the only decorations that
may be used by the rich and poor alike,
and the fragrance of the Violet is as
grateful in the cottage as in the palace..

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

85

FRUIT GROWING.

We find in the Sonoma Democrat an
article on fruit culture, by W. H. Nash,
which has the ring of practice and ac-
tual observation. We make the follow-
ing selections from Mr. Nash's writing,
in order that our readers may have the
benefit of his exj>erience and be stimu-
lated to furnish us with the results of
their own:

After twenty-five years of experience
in fruit growing in California, we think
it will be excusable in us if we presume
to offer to the farmer a few suggestions
relative to the soil and climate best
adapted to the growing of fruit, as well
as some suggestions as to the proper
season and manner of planting the trees.

In our California climate our winters
are so mild that it will do to plant at
any time from the commencement of the
first rains to the first of March. It has
now become a well known fact that
many varieties of fruit when planted
near enough to the coast to be exposed
to the winds from the ocean are almost
total failures, but when this cause of de-
fect is removed by planting these same
varieties in the orchard lands of the in-
terior they become not only thrifty and
productive, but the fruit is unsurpassed
in size and flavor. All trees should be
selected with reference to the climate
and soil where they are to be planted.
The Pear-tree in California is much
more hardy than the Apple-tree, and
will grow and produce good fruit in al-
most any locality, but succeeds best in
a deep, rich, and moderately dry soil.
The Peach-tree succeeds best where the
climate during the summer months is
warm, ranging from fifty to ninety de-
grees, and the soil rich, moist, and loose.
In a cool place this fruit is often of an
inferior quality, juicy, but insipid. The
Plum-tree should have a rich, moist soil,

and when planted in poor land manure
should be used unsparingly. The Cher-
ry may be grown to the highest state of
perfection when the land is a deep, rich,
sandy loam, the water at no time stand-
ing nearer than eight feet of the surface
of the ground, and where the tempera-
ture during the summer months ranges
from forty to eighty degrees. On Ma-
haleb stalks the Cherry can be grown
quite successfully where the soil is
much more wet and heavy. The Quince,
valuable for preserves and jellies, can
be grown on moderately wet land, and
will produce enormous crops. Almonds,
we have experimented with two varie-
ties of trees for a few years, and they
have fruited to some extent. Like the
Apple they succeed best when out of
reach of the coast winds, but can not
stand the heat of some of the interior
valleys. We know of no better recom-
mendation than to say that as a general
rule, where table Grapes can be grown,
the Almond will flourish. The Grape
may be said to do well in almost any
location in California that is out of the
damp winds and fogs that prevail along
the coast, even in some sheltered loca-
tions very near the coast they may be
grown very successfully, but not of the
best quality for wine. The Currant is
one of the most valuable of all the small
fruits, and is being used extensively for
jelly, as well as for table fruit and pies.
Like the Cherry it should have a cool
summer climate, and a loose rich soil.
The Gooseberry should have a mod-
erately dry soil, with plenty of manure
and good cultivation. If grown in cold,
damp places the fruit will be subject to
blight and mildew. The Houghton Seed-
ling, however, may be grown in almost
any location. The Blackberry should
have a warm, moist soil to succeed well.
In the preparation of the soil, plow the
ground at least twice and as deep as

86

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

possible; the subsoil plow may be used
to very great advantage, and when the
ground is hard it should not be omitted.
Pruning the trees at the time of trans-
planting should be carefully attend-
ed to. The ends of the roots that al-
ways are more or less bruised in digging
should be cut off with a sharp knife,
and the branches should all be cut back
to a bud within four or six inches of the
main stem, leaving them in a proper
shape for the formation of the tap.

We will give our method of planting,
and think it will do to work by as a
general rule: Dig the holes circling
three feet in diameter and two feet in
depth; the rich soil of the surface should
be thrown out on one side, the balance
on the other side of the hole. In re-
filling the hole, throw in the surface
dirt first, which will leave the richest
part of the soil where the tree will re-
ceive the most benefit from it. Fill up
the hole to a proper depth to receive
the tree without bending the roots,
keeping it about the same depth that it
stood in the nursery. Fill in about with
loose dirt until the ground around the
tree is level, then the planting is done.
From the time of plowing, the ground
should be kept well tilled and free from
grass and weeds. A crop of Carrots,
Beets, or Beans may be grown between
the trees, but should not be planted
nearer than four feet to the trees until
after they have grown at least one year.
Currants or Gooseberries may be plant-
ed in the same manner, and may be al-
lowed to grow until the trees are ten or
twelve years old.

The distance that the trees should be
planted apart are: Standard Apples,
24 feet each way; Pears, 18 feet; Stan-
dard Heart Cherries, 24 feet; Duke C,
16 feet; Almonds, Peaches, Plums, Nec-
tarines, 20 feet; Apricots, 24 feet;
Gooseberries, English, 3x5 feet; Hough-

ton's Seedlings, 6x8 feet; Currants, 2x5
feet; Blackberries, 8x8 feet; English
Walnuts, 40x40 feet; Grapevines (in
vineyard), 7x7 feet.

The very common practice in regard
to manure is to apply a very large quan-
tity immediately around the trunk of
the tree,which is decidedly wrong, as it
creates an excess of heat and enfeebles
the growth of the tree. The proper way
is to apply a sufficient top-dressing
broadcast between the rows, and should
be well plowed in where it can reach
the extremity of the roots. There are
many rich soils where manuring is un-
necessary.

Mulching should be practiced in very
dry soils, and only with newly planted
trees. Would recommend sand to be
thrown around the tree to the depth of
three or four inches, and about six feet
in diameter. It should be applied early
in May. In protecting trees from the
heat of the sun in summer, it is only
necessary to protect the trunk. This
may be done by means of two boards
set together forming an angle; this is
placed on the southwest side of the tree.

THE OIL NUT PALM.

A new industry promises to be added
to the commercial prosperity of the city.
By one of the last vessels from Mazat-
lan, Mexico, several bags of oil-nuts
were received by parties in this city, for
the purpose of having the oil pressed
out and finding the results. We believe
this is the first shipment made. The
tree on which the nut grows is some-
thing like the Date-palm, and the nut
is about the size of a hen's egg. The
kernel is very hard, and inside is the
nut, which is almost pure oil and about
the size of a large marble. They grow
in clusters, like Grapes. By putting
the nut on the end of a sharp -pointed

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

87

piece of stick you can set fire to it with
a match, when it blazes instantly and
throws out a beautiful white-like flame.
For centuries long before the Spanish
conquerors subjugated Mexico, Central
and South America, the natives used
the oil of the nut for lighting their
homes, oiling their hair, polishing their
bodies, and in various other ways. In
some of the mountain regions of Mexi-
co, bordering the sea-coast, it is alleged
that the pure descendents of the Aztecs,
who are waiting for the coming of their
god Quetzalcotl, burn what they call
the sacred oil of the Oil -nut Palm.
And it is said further that not many
years ago the sun -worshiping Indians
of Arizona, who claim descent from the
Toltecs and the Aztecs, also burned the
oil by clay and night, never letting the
light extinguish, as the pledge of their
eternal hope that their god would also
come back. "What truth there may be
in these statements it is hard to say, but
it is certain that an effort is now being
made to put the oil to different uses.
"We have been shown a private letter
from a well-known merchant in Mazat-
lan to a capitalist in this city, in which
the latter is requested to find out what
would be the cost of a steam - power
press to extract the oil. In Mexico it
is procured by the simple process of
mashing the nuts between stones. This
is done by the Indians, and they only
work when they are compelled to do so
for want of a little money. The nut-
bearing tree is very prolific, and is to be
found in immense' quantities along the
coast regions of tropical America. Not
far from Mazatlan there is a grove capa-
ble of producing 200,000 gallons yearly,
but the trees are almost useless for
want of the proper machinery to press
the oil. The article sells in Mazatlan
for from $3 50 to $6 per arroba, accord-
ing to the supply of the market and the

demand. An arroba is 25 pounds, and
contains about three gallons. The
quantity brought to market is readily
sold. If San Francisco merchants —
those doing trade with Mexico — do not
profit by investigating this feature of
commercial enterprise, it is probable
they will find that representatives of
European houses will control the busi-
ness, as steps have already been taken
to invite European capital in the devel-
opment of the business. Articles pub-
lished some time ago on California-
Mexican commerce clearly proved the
jealousy of European merchants in
Mexico with regard to American as-
cendency in the commercial affairs of
Mexico. Whether in this Oil-palm
trade, the dry goods, the liquor trade,
or other business, our rivals there are
our enemies. They have so long con-
trolled the trade that they will not give
it up without a struggle. And with re-
gard to the speculation in oil nuts, the
reader must remember that the oil pro-
cured from it makes the finest fancy
soaps in the world, altogether superior
to anything procured from the cocoa-
nut of the Cocoanut-palm. For lamp
and lubricating purposes it is superior.
As a fattening article it possesses ex-
traordinary qualities. Cattle, pigs, and
fowls eat the nut with avidity, and the
flesh of animals feeding upon it is very
white and delicate. Even when the oil
is pressed out the refuse is used as food
for cattle, and feeding upon it they
grow fat, sleek, and strong. We give
the facts to the commercial public, hop-
ing that some of our merchants may
profit thereby. In this sense they are
of great interest. To others it will lead
the mind to the wonderful beneficence
of Nature in supplying all the varied
wants of man, if indeed she does not
contribute to gratify his taste for unde-
manded luxuries. — Chronicle.

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUEIST.

FERN CULTURE IN THE PARLOR.

Ferns are plants the culture of which
is very interesting, either in the green-
house or parlor. Nothing adorns a sit-
ting-room more than a case of Ferns in
luxuriant health in the midst of winter,
when vegetation is at rest out of doors.
A case for this purpose may be made of
any size and of almost any shape. In
their construction, however, several par-
ticular points have to be borne in mind,
for the benefit of the j)lants which are
to grow in them, the first of which is a
means of obtaining a thorough drain-
age. More failures occur in the culti-
vation of plants in Wardian cases from
imperfect drainage than from any other
cause, nothing being more injurious to
the plants than sour, stagnant soil; and
however porous the soil itself may be,
without perfect drainage it can not be
long in a condition suitable for supply-
ing a healthy food for plants. The wa-
ter retained in the soil, having no way
to escape, soon sours it. To secure a
good drainage, also dryness and tidi-
ness in that part of the room where the
case stands, two bottoms are necessary;
one, the true bottom, which should be
thoroughly perforated to allow the free
escape of the water; below this one,
another should be placed to receive the
water as it passes from the soil, and
therefore requires to be water-tight, and
so adjusted that it can be emptied and
cleansed without disturbing any other
part of the case. On the upper bottom
place a good thick layer of pot-shreds
and charcoal for drainage. Upon this
put a small mound of suitable soil for
Ferns — peat, loam, and a good mixture
of sand. Secure in this mound small
stones and shells, so as to imitate small
rock -work, allowing sufficient cavities
for planting Ferns and Mosses.

Proper means of ventilation is also

necessary, which is best acquired by
having one part of the ropf movable.
"When so constructed that the movable
part can slide over the fixed part, it
gives the least trouble, and is the most
convenient when cleaning, watering, or
planting the Ferns. Top ventilation is
better for the welfare of the plants than
when side ventilation is adopted, as
then there are no ill effects arising from
cold draughts passing through them.

When planting- the Ferns, put some
erect growing ones at the top, and the
more dwarf and bushy ones on the sides
of the mound, using Mosses of the den-
ticulata type for carpeting the whole ;
those of the caulescent kinds which suc-
ceed well in these cases look best when
mixed through the Ferns. Upon re-
moving the plants from the pots, do not
break up the balls any before planting ;
the roots will soon make a start into the
fresh soil, which should be rather firm-
ly pressed around the roots. After the
plants are in, give a good watering, and
shut close for a few days.

In selecting plants for such purposes
dwarf -grown plants in small pots are
the best. A good many Ferns are well
adapted for growing in these cases ; in
fact, with the exception of the Gymno-
grammas and Cheilanthes, few kinds in
general cultivation but succeed in them.

BASKET PLANTS.

• But of all the pleasing ways for grow-
ing plants the hanging basket is most
attractive. There is something about
their graceful beauty that wins the love
of all. Elaborate baskets may be pur-
chased, or simple ones be made at home
that will be quite as pleasing. Some
of the most beautiful ones we have ever
seen were knots of wood from decayed
forest trees. Many of these are of cu-
rious shapes, much like ocean shells.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

89

With varnish applied, and slender
chains or bright cords attached, they
are ready for use. Others may be con-
structed of grape vines or branches of
fruit and forest trees. In this way not
only the flowers, but the receptacles in
■which they grow, will become the admi-
ration of all of your city friends.

For basket plants the graceful Smilax
is first of the list. Its dainty glossy
leaves will add a charm to every thing
it touches. Next, the English Ivy has
the richest foliage, and if you can wait
for its tardy growth you will have an
elegant vine, but we like the German
Ivy best. It will do such wonderful
things in the way of adorning windows
and pictures, and do them so quickly.
The Kenilworth Ivy is the best trailing
plant we have ever grown, and unsur-
passed for a centre basket. Money-
worth is also a good trailer, but is
prettiest among other plants. All these
are of easy culture, and if given much
water, morning and evening, will de-
light you with their constant growth.
If these are too many in a home where
work must lead and pleasure follow,
two or three varieties in a single basket,
or a little hanging garden, will become
a thing of beauty, and give more pleas-
ure than many a costly thing might do.

Any of these vines are exceedingly
desirable for the lawn, for trellises, or
over rock-work, or in rustic vases or
lawn baskets. These may be made of
branches of trees interwoven with grape
vines, bound with moss, then filled with
earth, and are exceedingly appropriate
for a country garden where all the
materials are just at hand. In these
may be grown several varieties. The
Dracaena is very showy in the centre of
large vases or lawn baskets. Around
this set Verbenas, with here and there a
bright Pansy, and about the edge set
trailing plants. If you wish vines for

Vol. VI.— 7.

baskets with handles, Maurandya is ex-
cellent. One such basket will do more
for its possessor if well cared for than
a whole garden of neglected flowers,
and these are as easily grown as the
common kind.

A very attractive basket may also be
made of wire, lined with moss, filled
with Ferns, wild Plantain and Lycopo-
dium from the forest. These will grow
all summer with a very little care, in
any shady corner of your rooms, and
send up long, graceful, drooping fronds
much larger than those first planted.
In such a basket, place a bunch of Pan-
sies or Forget-me-nots, and you have
one of the loveliest ornaments imagin-
able.— Mrs. D. Huntley.

THE OLEANDEE.

Make cuttings six inches long of old
wood and place them in shallow water
until they emit roots, then pot them.
An Oleander is never so pretty as when
confined to a single stem; therefore rub
off all side shoots as they appear, re-
serving only a folinaceous top sufficient
to carry on its growth. At the end of
the second year we shall have a stem,
say three feet high, perfectly straight
and dividing at its top into three bran-
ches. If now it be permitted to grow
unchecked it will soon display the loose
naked habit which so mars the beauty
of the Oleander as a house plant, while
it demands a space that it scarcely
merits. Let us cut off these three bran-
ches to within four inches of the main
stem. Each branch will at once push
a verticil of three buds, so that we shall
have nine branches instead of three.
These, when again cut back a few
months later, will again trifurcate, pro-
ducing twenty-seven, and so on until a
thick ball of foliage is provided, that,
with its clean, elastic stem and double

90

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

rose-colored flowers — produced more
profusely for this course of manipula-
tion— will prove a jdant more attractive
than one could suppose who has never
tried this form of Oleander cultivation.
Afterward we have only to cut it back
season after season as it transgresses
desired limits.

Oleanders are so far from squeamish
that they will suffer the rudest treat-
ment without resentment. We have
two plants about eight feet high so
closely alike that we never have dis-
tinguished one from the other. They
are planted out in the spring, taken up
in the late fall with all the earth that
readily adheres, placed in the cellar
and the ball of earth and roots covered
with fine sand. Thus, while they are
suitable for shrubberies, as single lawn
specimens, or in borders of whatever
description, displaying anywhere mark-
ed distinctness of aspect, they are really
of no trouble whatever. If it is pre-
ferred to pot them for the conservatory
or sitting room, it is well to know that
the roots may be crowded into the
smallest pot that will receive them,
working in as much soil as possible and
supplying plenty of water.

Oleanders are quite hardy. We once
exposed a plant to 20 degrees for thirty
minutes without injury except to the
leaves. We remember a tree in Savan-
nah, Ga., twenty feet high, growing in
a court-yard, and it may be that they
are hardy further north.

If a unanimity of veracious authors did
not so pronounce, we should doubt that
they (the Nerium Oleander species at
least) were excessively poisonous, from
the careless manner in which we have
pruned and handled our own specimens
for ten years without conscious injury.
Indeed, our immunity is a strong argu-
ment in favor of the innocuousness of
the plant. — E. S. Carman.

FLOWEES IN PAEIS.

It is a rather singular fact that two
of the uses to which flowers are put in
America should be comparatively little
known here. One is the ball-room bou-
quet, which every American society man
is expected to bestow upon his chosen
partner for the German; or which he
delights in depositing as an offering be-
fore the shrine of the reigning belle of
his own set, or the fair one who has
specially attracted his admiration. No
small tax are these floral tributes — in
many respects rendered obligatory by
the usages of society — upon the finances
of a party - going young bachelor. In
Paris his purse would not be drained
in such a fashion. Young ladies as a
rule do not carry bouquets to parties.
Another most poetic and tender custom
— namely, that of strewing the form of
the beloved dead with flowers, and of
covering the closed coffin with wreaths
and other floral devices — is almost
wholly unknown here. This p/actice —
which in New York has of late years
been carried to a pitch of ridiculous and
outrageous extravagance — has always
seemed to me, within bounds, one of
the most appropriate uses to which the
fairest gifts of Nature could be put.
But the false nature of French senti-
ment rejects the real blossom, with its
wealth of sweetness, of significance, and
of tender emotion, to substitute therefor
a sham of painted muslin and paper.
The funereal wreaths which are laid
upon coffins at Parisian funerals are
composed of artificial flowers, some of
them accurate enough imitations of
white flowers; others of the stiff yellow
immortelle in its glaring, uncompromis-
ing, unsentimental ugliness; and others,
worse still, of glistening jet beads, or
of white and jet beads intermingled.
These crowns are also used for the pur-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

91

pose of decorating graves, though what
tenderness of idea or of sentiment can
cleave to a stiff, prickly construction of
wire and muslin, or of wire and coarse
shiny beads, it is hard to discover.
The sweet-breathed perishable garland
which we lay upon a beloved tomb in
America is in its loveliness and its fra-
gility a type of the dear humanity that
has passed away ; but to our trans-
Atlantic ideas the jet beads and arti-
ficial flowers are mainly suggestive of
the milliner and the mantuamaker. On
the other hand, natural flowers are be-
coming the very height of fashion in
Paris for wedding parures. At one or
two of the late aristocratic marriages of
this season, the bride appeared covered
with real and rich-scented orange-blos-
soms, her lace flounces looped and her
veil confined by fresh and lovely flow-
ers.— Lucy Hooper.

YALUE OF AN ACKE OF EAISINS.

W. A. Saunders thus writes to the
Fresno Expositor in reply to the inquiry,
" "What is the value of an acre of rai-
sins?"

' ' I take pleasure in complying with
your request to give information as to
the value of one year's product from an
acre of raisins. I have in a single in-
stance made forty pounds of raisins
from a single vine pruned in the usual
manner of vineyard pruning. These
raisins sold, at a country store, retail,
for 25 cents per pound, or $10 per vine
for the year. An acre of land would
produce 700 such vines, giving a gross
income of $7,000 per acre. But this is
a result very far above what anybody
must expect from raisin production.
An acre of Grapes of Larga, Tokay,
Fiher Zagos, or what Brother West
calls ' White Malaga,' will produce in
our superior climate, and from our best

soil, with an abundance of water and
good culture, on mature vines, from
10,000 to 40,000 pounds of Grapes per
annum. General Negley gathered from
an acre of six-year-old Reisling vines,
at San Jose, 40,000 pounds last year.
There is no reason why vineyards in
in our county should not do as well.

"You will observe that I do not use
the term 'drying.' Raisins are cured,
not dried. Every person who has ex-
amined the best qualities of raisins has
observed that instead of the juice hav-
ing been merely expelled in the process
of curing, it has been changed to glu-
cose, or Grape sugar, and that instead
of the raisins being but dried fibre, as
is the case with dried apples, peaches,
plums, etc., it is almost a solid mass of
granulated sugar. And just in propor-
tion as this change of the juice to sugar
is effected with least loss of weight is
the Grape suitable for making raisins.

"The Larga loses 50 per cent, of its
weight in curing, the Tokay 60 per
cent., and other varieties, including
Muscats, from 60 to 70 per cent. Or,
in other words, 100 pounds of Grapes
will make from 30 to 50 pounds of rai-
sins, according to the variety of Grapes
used. You will thus observe that the
amount of raisins per acre will range
from 3,000 pounds from a light crop of
Fiher Zagos to 2,000 pounds from a
heavy crop of Largas. From this it is
easy to determine the amount of cash
from an acre. And right here we wish
to have it borne in mind that we are
writing about raisins, not the tough,
ill-flavored, hard-seeded, dried Grapes,
made from Catawbas, Missions, Zin-
fandels, Sweetwaters, Hamburgs, or
any other wine, table -grapes, or trash
that happens to grow on the farm; but
raisins — fine, large, bright, bloom-color-
ed, plump, luscious, sugary raisins.
And for such, when once they become

92

THE CALIFORNIA HOBTICT3LTUKIST.

known to the world, we do not think
that we are over-estimating the price
when we assume that we can rely upon
receiving at least ten cents per pound
for them, delivered at the railroad ;
that the gross sales will amount to
$2,000 per acre, gold coin. I have data
of the most positive character which
leads me to rely upon clearing $1,000
per acre annually from my vineyard
when in full bearing.

' ' To plow the ground well, construct
distributing ditches, furnish the best of
cutting on the ground, and set them in
the best possible manner, is worth $30
per acre. The care for the first year,
irrigating, etc., would be about the
same as for corn, say $10 per acre.
Added to this, after the first year, is an
additional expense for pruning, or a
total cost yearly of $15 per acre. In
addition to this there is the cost of
picking, curing, and packing, which
makes a total of about one -half cent
per pound for each pound of cured rai-
sins, not reckoning the cost of boxes,
which would be an additional expense,
and could be made to amount to much
or little, according to the manner in
which they are packed.'''

CURIOSITIES OF PLANT LIFE.

Because a plant does well elsewhere
it is no reliable sign that it will do as
well on the Pacific coast. Plants vary
much locally even in California. In-
dian corn flourishes on the Russian Riv-
er only, in central California; but in
Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San
Bernardino, maize produces one hun-
dred bushels of shelled corn to the acre
in ordinary cultivation. But no corn in
this State makes mush which will hold
together when sliced for the frying-pan,
as all Eastern corn does. The castor
plant, which hereabouts is like the or-

dinary bean, extinct in winter, is in Los
Angeles a perennial tree, furnishing
cabinet wood. It is in full bloom in
January, carrying flowers and ripe beans
at the same time. By the by, there is
no tree more beautiful, no flowers more
rich than the bright maroon cone -like
flowers of the arborescent castor bean.
The cherry tree, which in the East lives
and fruits till men grow old who jflant-
ed it, is of short duration here. In
Los Angeles its rich coverture of flow-
ers is equal to ours further north, but
it bears no fruit. Wheat grows as well
in the higher parts of Mexico as in Cal-
ifornia; but it bears no berry. Turkey
rhubarb loses its medicinal properties
when planted across the Atlantic. The
tea plant grows better in California than
in China, but to the aqueous infusion it
yields no theine, which is the esteemed
element. The tea plant grows well in
California. We have seen a million of
them, in full and luxuriant growth,
among the foot-hills between George-
town and Placerville. We tasted the
infusion from its leaves, served Japan-
fashion, which differs materially from
Chinese methods. Instead of iron
plates, heat is applied to the leaf from
Japan, through a porous paper, express-
ly made, so that there is no burning
nor overheating. We have taken tea
which came from Assam and also from
the vast tea gardens of the snowy Him-
alayas; and between them, as between
teas of China and Japan, there is a
marked difference. The teas of India
are too rank; they are only used to give
more pronounced flavor to the teas of
China, which are growing year by year
more insipid. We were not surprised
to find in this first tea of California
quite a difference from all others. It
was not rank, but delicate; and consid-
ering that it was rudely prepared and
fired through Japan tea paper in haste

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

93

for our Industrial Fair, we judged that
tea culture rnay be a success in Califor-
nia, when it can be economically aided
by machine preparation. The tea plants
of El Dorado were all destroyed by a
casualty that is avoidable in future.
The experiment otherwise proved that,
with irrigation, tea will grow first -rate
in our foot-hills, and all the better
where snow covers the bush for sixty
days.

(^tutorial gavtUMo.

DR. GEEHAED EHOLFS.

The great African traveler, Dr. Ger-
hard Eholfs, who lectured before the
Academy of Sciences on the evening of
February 14th, is making this trip to
our genial climate one of study and the
gathering of information in the various
scientific departments with which he is
familiar. Our indefatigable friend, Dr.
Kellogg, in his special department of
botany, has been exceedingly kind to
this distinguished foreigner — in fact
this liberal open-heartedness is one of
the doctor's noblest traits of character
— and a short time ago arranged and
classified some two hundred plants for
Dr. Rholfs, also furnishing a large num-
ber of plates and drawings of the same,
which were highly appreciated by our
German visitor. Dr. Kellogg accom-
panied him on a scientific "hunt" over
the hills of Oakland and beyond, dur-
ing the charming and bracing spring
weather that prevailed during the sec-
ond and third weeks of February, with
which Dr. Rholfs was delighted and
gratified beyond expression. This gen-
tleman, who is a much younger man
than we supposed, being about thirty-
five years of age we should judge with-
out inquiry, has the energetic physical
appearance of being a very determined,
accurate, and thorough explorer, who

must have the full confidence of the
German Government judging from the
important missions intrusted to his
charge from time to time. We were
very much pleased with his "familiar
talk " lecture delivered before the Acad-
emy of Sciences, and we hope his so-
journ in our midst will prove beneficial
to us as well as to himself.

FRONTISPIECE.

"We have chosen for the embellish-
ment of our magazine, this month, two
rural pictures. One, a sporting and
harvest scene, and the other, a camp-
ing-out illustration. In the first are
figures shooting quails, so abundant all
over our rich and prolific State, and in
which are found in large quantities, be-
sides, nearly every description of game,
for the delectation of hunters. As for
grain harvests, especially wheat, our
coast is equally distinguished. In the
second engraving — camping -out — the
scene, it is true, will answer for all the
States in the Union; but for our slope,
it may with truth be said, it is peculiar-
ly characteristic, for, to many persons
who love this kind of life (temporarily
at any rate), our mild and genial climate
is remarkably favorable, this enjoyment
being practicable in every season of the
year here; but, of course, the spring,
summer, and autumn being mostly pre-
ferred for that wild and somewhat prim-
itive condition of living, and pursuit of
game of all kinds, conjoined, with some,
either in whole or in part, in following
the sciences of botany, entomology, or-
nithology, geology, mineralogy, etc.

HOETICULTUEE AND PICTOEIAL AET.

In examining from time to time Mor-
ris Schwab & Co.'s picture store and
gallery, Post Street, and the interest-

94

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

ing works of art therein, some of which
are from the brushes and pencils of the
most eminent painters, whether in oil,
water-colors, or crayon-drawings, that
the world affords, we are always led to
consider how much benefit the proprie-
tors of this first-rate depot, and others
in the same business, are conferring
upon our State and city in promoting
and cultivating that taste of the people
which is calculated to appeal to the
purer, more spiritual, and better attri-
butes of their minds and feelings. This
intellectual taste for the sublime and
beautiful teaches us not to live alto-
gether in the life of the senses, but
rather to rise, in the contemplation of
these objects continually, out of our
grosser nature into somewhat more of
an invisible life; into an upper sphere,
even almost into the very presence of
the Eternal Himself. The sincere love
of the beautiful, the chaste, and the
true in Nature and Art enables the soul
to live higher and therefore happier
than the senses alone. As an excellent
writer has said, "The real world is far
from being altogether what we see ; it
is what we do not see." In other
words, it is the power which we may
possess, by cultivation arid aesthetic and
pure thoughts, of spiritualizing to a
great degree what may be termed our
sense- knowledge, and as rational and
civilized creatures digesting and con-
verting it into a higher form of knowl-
edge and more lasting gratification and
pleasure. The viewing of a beautiful
scene in Nature, or an admirable land-
scape painting, or exalted and virtuous
scenes in public or domestic life, ought
to address itself more to our spir-
itual than to our bodily senses. Some
painters, as Ary Scheffer, are to the last
degree spiritual; while others, as Titian
and Rubens, are sensuous. The first-
named artists were refining in the effects

produced by their works; while the lat-
ter are only attractive, chiefly in the di-
rection of the physical. May not the
California Horticulturist, in its effort
and purpose to promote in the public
mind a love of flowers, and in some the
pleasure of their practical cultivation,
present some claim, however humble,
to promoting somewhat the same good
results that we demand for the proper
estimation and value of the pictorial
art? In this respect we consider pic-
torial art and horticulture in complete
harmony. We can not conclude our
notice of the above-named firm, and the
generally high merit of their pictures,
without referring to the urbanity and
politeness of its proprietors, and their
readiness to impart all desirable infor-
mation to their visitors. Here also may
be found, as well as good paintings, en-
gravings, etc., all the first-rate materials
necessary for artists in the successful
prosecution of their delightful occupa-
tion.

BAMBOO {BAMBUSA).

In Japan, as in the East Indies, we
everywhere meet with the elegant Bam-
boo, or Rattan, which, in common with
the Firs, is held in high esteem among
the Japanese for its constant verdure.
The plant is used for decorating the
temple-walks and sacred places, chiefly
on festivals and other solemn days. In
the tropics Bamboos grow thickly to-
gether like grasses. We have only to
substitute Bamboos of some thirty or
forty feet high for the grasses which
compose our hay meadows, and in the
place of a meadow to imagine a vast
tract of land Covered with these Bam-
boos growing so thickly together as to
be impenetrable, and we know what a
Bamboo forest is like— the long, narrow
leaves all hanging from the pendant

THE CALIFOENIA HOBTICTJLTUBIST.

95

branches, which spring from the straight
green stem, in tangled, untidy-like con-
fusion. The Bamboo grows in the
semi-tropical, tropical, and equatorial
zones, and is ranked in botanical
classification among the grasses. B. J.
Trumbull, Florist, Sansome Street, has
two species of the Bamboo for sale; also
Miller & Sievers, and Wellington,
Washington Street. Should a person
possess a small piece of marshy or
swampy land, the Bamboo may be
planted therein for ornament, if not for
utility.

CATALOGUES EECEIVED.

B. F. Wellington, Nurseryman and
Florist, 425 Washington Street, in in-
troducing his Catalogue for 1876 of
Vegetable, Flower, and Tree Seeds
and Bulbs, etc., gives his customers and
j)atrons some plain and simple, but
still, to beginners in flower culture
(and it is to be hoped that there are
now many such), valuable directions for
their management of flower seeds. We
extract the following useful hints:

"The soil should be made rich, deep,
and thoroughly worked until it is fine
and in its best condition. Most flower
seeds should be sown very shallow. Al-
though some of the larger seeded vari-
eties, such as Sweet Peas, Convolvulus,
etc., are exceptions to this rule, these
may be sown about one-half inch in
depth. Tender varieties, such as Cal-
ceolaria, Primula, Cineraria, etc. , need
the protection the greenhouse affords.
Flower seeds, when first sown, should
be protected. A good plan has been
found to spread newspapers over the
space sown (and place small stones over
the corners to hold them in place)
through the day, to protect from the
sun, and remove them at night, to get
the benefit of the dew. More failures

have arisen for want of this protection,
and from deep sowing, than all other
causes combined.

" The best time for transplanting or-
namental trees, shrubs, etc., is immedi-
ately after the first rain, and continu-
ously thereafter until the month of
May. Plants in pots, however, may be
set out at all seasons of the year. To
insure a successful growth, the soil
should be well prepared beforehand by
digging, and an abundance of manure,
if the ground is poor. All plants
shoidd be well staked after planting, to
secure them from the action of the
wind.

" In the selection of my stock I have
spared no expense or care to procure
the be3t, in every respect, to be had.
I import direct from the most responsi-
ble growers in Europe and Germany,
and thereby am assured that each and
every kind is fresh, reliable, and true to
name. Any person who buys seed
merely because it is cheap is sure to
lose in the end, and he is liable not
only to lose his seed, time, and labor,
but is also liable to lose a whole season,
by not having time to procure reliable
seeds (which he should have done at
first) in time to realize a crop. Along
the Pacific Coast, although it is small
in size in comparison with some coun-
tries, we have every climate known in
the world. From the locality of per-
petual snow, where vegetation is un-
known, to that of the most delicious of
the tropics, we of the western coast can
boast. 'In and between these two ex-
tremes every vegetable, fruit, or flower,
known throughout the world, is grown
in its greatest perfection, and we can
challenge the world both as to size of
growth and yield of quantity. In such
a diversity of climate, of course the
same rule will not apply to the same ar-
ticle and its cultivation in different lo-

96

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

calities, so that each person must con-
sider his own climate, and use due rea-
son in the application of instructions.
It is best to sow and cultivate all vege-
tables in rows or drills, in preference to
broadcast. The crop is tilled at less
expense, both of time and labor, the
vegetables are larger, and the result
more satisfactory . Rich soil, deep cult-
ure, continual eradication of weeds, and
free use of the plow or hoe, are indis-
pensable for a good crop. Reason
teaches this, while practice proves it.
If the ground is low or soil very moist,
good drainage is very essential."

It is to the interest of professional
florists to sell none other but good
seeds, fruit-trees, and plants, and all
to be relied on as to quality and name,
and this principle is for the benefit of
all concerned, both sellers and custom-
ers, and it is so carried out for this rea-
son.

Briggs & Bro's. large " Quarterly Il-
lustrated Floral Work for 1876," Roch-
ester, N. T., and Chicago, 111., with
three handsome chromos. To quote
their own words: "Flowers are the
cheapest luxuries in the world, and oft-
entimes the investment of even a dollar
in judiciously chosen seeds is the source
of unspeakable satisfaction."

Ellwanger & Barry's "Descriptive
Catalogue of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs,
Roses, Flowering Plants," etc., 23d
edition for 1876, Mount Hope Nurser-
ies, Rochester, N. Y. Also to quote
the language of this old and most en-
terprising firm: "Increased attention
is now being paid to ornamental trees
and shrubs. "We have introduced from
Europe all that appears to be of value
for this country: the Cut-leaved Weep-
ing Birch, Kilmarnock Weeping Wil-
low, Oak-leaved Mountain Ash, Impe-
rial Cut-leaved Alder, and many other
beautiful and popular trees.

" Novelties and Specialities in Flow-
er Seeds for 1876," from William Bull,
King's Road, Chelsea, London, S. W-,
a very large and splendid collection of
flower and vegetable seeds, etc.

Spooner's " Garden Guide and Gen-
eral Catalogue for 1876, with hints on
the sowing of seeds and management of
seedlings, watering pot plants, and lay-
ing out gardens," Boston, Mass.

Jno. Rock's " Descriptive Catalogue
of Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Shrubs,
Roses, Plants," etc., for 1876; location,
Milpitas Road, one mile north of San
Jose . Mr. Rock, in his prefatory no-
tice, says:

"The superiority of trees and plants
grown in this locality, owing to the pe-
culiar adaptation of soil and climate, is
a welh known fact. The steadiness of
temperature, free from extreme chang-
es, renders propagation by buds, grafts,
or seeds almost a certainty here. This
enables us to offer a well-grown and
complete stock of fruit and ornament-
al trees, free from such diseases and de-
fects as are often carried from nursery
to orchard, causing the early decay and
short life of trees. We are continually
enlarging our business as to varieties,
extent of ground, and stock of trees
and plants. Many highly esteemed
new varieties have been added to our
collection. We also offer, for the first
time, the new early Peach, Briggs' Red
May, unsurpassed in earliness, fruitful-
ness, and productiveness."

Long Brothers' " Eighth Annual Re-
tail Catalogue of Floricultural Stock of
1876." Buffalo, N. Y.

" Spring Catalogue, No. 2, of New
and Rare Plants for 1876, including
Greenhouse and Bedding Plants."
Storrs, Harrison & Co., Painesville,
Ohio. Also, " Semi-annual Wholesale
Trade Circular for Spring of 1876,"
from the same firm.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

97

" Annual Circular and Retail Cata-
logue of Warranted Vegetable and
Flower Seeds/' James I. H. Gregory,
Marblekead, Mass. This catalogue in-
troduces the New American Squash —
the Butman — the only one known to
have originated in the United States, a
cross between the famous Hubbard and
the Yokohama Squashes.

FRUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BT E. J. HOOPEE.

Although California, in general, can
not exalt herself upon her capability of
raising the finest Apples in the United
States, the countiy to the east of the
Rocky Mountains going ahead of her
in this respect, yet with proper atten-
tion to the preparation of the soil, and
suitable care in planting, that impor-
tant fruit may be raised on our slope to
so fine a quality, texture, juiciness, and
flavor that it need not take rank far be-
hind the rest of the States and Territor-
ies of our Union. Oregon and Wash-
ington Territory to the north of us on
this coast nearly equal the Eastern
States in their production of good Ap-
ples, but do not we think come quite
up to many of them; and our market in
San Francisco is pretty well supplied
with fair fruit of this description from
those regions. We need not dwell upon
the fact that the value of a generous
supply of good Apples in the family
has been long understood by every one;
they may be cooked wholesomely and
palatably in so many varieties of ways.
Many farmers when they purchase land,
looking for an immediate pecuniary re-
turn for their labor and products, are
apt to delay longer than they ought in
planting fruit trees. But in this favor-
able climate, from the month of De-
cember to March, there is a period in

our rainy season when a beginning may
be made in this most desirable work of
planting. The first consideration for
the planter is a desirable location, and
the next, the varieties, of not only Ap-
ples, but of all other fruits that he may
desire to possess. (For a list of varie-
ties of all fruits best adapted to Cali-
fornia see January number of the Hor-
ticulturist, page 18). With respect to
location, we will here quote the words
of the New Tork Herald, which, on this
and some other points, are, we think,
quite apropos to our subject: "With
many there is little choice in the loca-
tion. If the chief object is the supply
of fruit for the family, the convenience
of access will constitute an important
element in the solution of the question.
All such persons will desire to have the
planting done near the dwelling-house.
But even here an elevated site should
be preferred, as elevation is sometimes
a condition that secures a crop against
the effects of spring frosts; besides, the
trees will aid in protecting the dwell-
ing-house and other buildings from rude
blasts, and the foliage will also afford a
pleasing background to the rural land-
scape. [The first idea is not so neces-
sary for California, as regards frosts,
yet for the last five years these have
been increasing here; but the last hint
concerning high winds is certainly ap-
propriate to our coast.] Where more
extensive orcharding is contemplated,
with a view to sending the fruit to mar-
ket, if a somewhat elevated and favora-
ble location can be made, more remote
from the buildings, convenience must
sometimes yield to considerations of
profit; for it is well known nearly ev-
erywhere that valleys are colder than
hills, and a few feet elevation will some-
times secure a crop when in the valleys
it will be entirely cut off. [We have
noticed many instances of this taking

98

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTTJEIST.

place in Napa Valley, having seen the
Grape crop destroyed in the bottom,
when it was untouched at an elevation
of about 150 or 200 feet above it.] An-
other important consideration in favor
of a more elevated situation for an or-
chard is, particularly where a rich soil
prevails, that on the elevated grounds,
besides having the advantage of throw-
ing off the excess of water from the
surface, the soil is generally more por-
ous and dry, and favors a more healthy
growth than the valleys or perfectly flat
lands. If the soil is not naturally por-
ous and dry, underdrainirtg is indispen-
sably necessary to insure profitable
crops. After the most favorable loca-
tion has been chosen, the next most im-
portant step to be taken is in the prep-
aration of the soil for Apple-trees,"

If the ground is sufficiently dry with-
out underdraining, it should be deeply
trenched and the soil thoroughly pul-
verized. If the land is not rich, it
should be manured and the manure
thoroughly incorporated in the soil;
as fresh manure should never come in
contact, in considerable quantities, with
the roots of newly-planted trees. Rich
earth from the valleys or any other con-
venient source, where the ground re-
quires enriching, is best to be placed
around the roots of trees. Large holes
should be dug and filled in with rich
earth some time before planting, so that
the rains may settle it, and that the
trees when established shall stand no
deeper than they did in the nursery.
Great injury is often done by planting
trees too deep. The roots require a
certain degree of heat and air to thrive
well, and too deep planting deprives
them of these essentials. The work of
planting should be done in our most
favorable winter rains, and before the
circulation of the sap begins. When
the sub-soil is so compact that it is dif-

ficult for the roots of trees to stick
downward, a land should be marked
out, say twelve feet wide, where a row
of trees is to be planted, and plow this
land three or four times, throwing the
furrow slices outward. In this way a
broad middle furrow may be worked
open two -feet in depth. Then reverse
the plowing so as to level off the
ground, and plant the trees on the sur-
face of a deeply pulverized seed-bed.

About the 23d of last month (Febru-
ary^ large quantities of Apples were
shipped here from Oregon and the
northern coast; consequently prices of
that fruit declined, and a fair article
could be had, by the single box, at $2
to $2.50, and the best at $3. Bananas
were in small quantity, and their price
was unaltered, but, if anything, higher
than than they had been for some
weeks. They remained firm until the
next lot was received from Honolulu.
Los Angeles Oranges were in fair sup-
ply, but were firmly held at rather high
prices until the beginning of the pres-
ent month (March). California and
Mexican Limes were quite plentiful. A
few Grapes were received from Sacra-
mento about the third week in Febru-
ary. They were somewhat shrunken,
but considering the time they had been
preserved, were of pleasant quality and
flavor. Their price was 50 cents per
pound, and they, of course, hung rath-
er heavy on the market.

The principle changes in the vegeta-
ble market at the time above named was
a plentiful supply of Green Peas and
Asparagus, and a reduction in their
rates of selling. Mushrooms became
more scarce, and Kidney Potatoes were
less plentiful, and the price advanced
to five cents per pound. Dried Peach-
es were scarce and wanted. California
Raisins were quite plentiful. Howe &
Hall furnish the following: Apples, $2

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

99

to S3. 50 per bos. Eastern Cranberries,
$13 to $14 per bbl. Oranges, Los An-
geles, $18 to $10 per M. Lemons, Mal-
aga, $12 per bos; Los Angeles, $20 to
$30 per M. Limes, $8 to $10 per M.
Bananas, $2.50 to $1 per buncb. Co-
coanuts, $7 to $8 per 100. Pine-ap-
ples, $6 per dozen. Dried Fruit — Ap-
ples, 6 to lie. per lb. ; Peacbes, 11 to
12£c; Peeled, 18 to 20c; Pears, 10 to
12^c; Plums, 5 to 6c; do, pitted, 16
to 17c; Prunes, 12^ to 17c; Apricots,
12J to 15c; Figs, white, 12J to 15c;
black do, 6 to 10c; California Raisins,
6 to lie. Vegetables — Cabbages, $l,to
1.12^ per ctl.; Garlic, 3 to 5c per lb.;
Asparagus, 37^ to 50c per lb. ; Green
Peas, 35c per lb. ; Marrowfat Squash,
$12.50 per ton; Mushrooms, 15 to 20c.
per lb.

About the beginning of this month
(March), steamer from Oregon brought
a large shipment of Apples, and a por-
tion of the old stock being still unsold,
prices weakened. A very fair quality
by the single box was obtainable at $2
to $2 25, while the best could be had
at $2 75 to $3. Los Angeles Oranges,
Lemons, and Limes came forward free-
ly, and met with an appreciative mar-
ket. The receipts during the month of
February were 876,200 Oranges, 82,250
Lemons, and 59,000 Limes. The crop
is short, and a little more than one-half
of it has already arrived. Oranges in
general never become quite sweet here
until about the middle of March or the
beginning of April. "We hear the cry
of " sweet Oranges " by the peddlers in
the streets, but the palates of their cus-
tomers soon prove the fallacy of these
public vociferations. To be sure, these
Oranges so hawked about in the public
thoroughfares are smaller and inferior
in flavor to the best importations, but
even the superior kinds are not excel-
lent and perfectly sweet until the latter

portion of the season. The sweetest
and best are those having the thinnest
skin, of good size, and generally of the
deepest orange color. Sugar is the
most judicious accompaniment to the
sour fruit, but even in that case it is
never very wholesome until its perfectly
ripe, and then it is one of the health-
iest of all fruits. It makes a good mar-
malade, and is fine when well candied,
with the outer skin nicely pared, and is
an excellent tonic, but the somewhat"
bitter flavor of these preserves is not
relished by some palates.

The first Cucumbers of the season
were received from Solano County dur-
ing the first week in March, and retail-
ed readily, though small, at 60@75c
apiece. Green Peas are becoming quite
plentiful. Asparagus is more abundant,
but an active demand "beeps up prices.
A few new Potatoes are selling at 8@
12ic 9 n>.

How to Grow Oraxge Teees from
Seed. — Save the seeds of a half-dozen
nice Oranges and plant at once five
inches apart, in shallow boxes with per-
forated bottoms. Let the soil be light
and rich. In a year the seedlings
should grow from eight to twelve inch-
es. Make them of symmetrical shape
now. Screen from frost and heat with
light muslin cloth. Sprinkle every
night. In the spring of the second
year transplant to separate boxes, and
graft them if you hear of any fine vari-
ety to do it with. In the third year
transplant to the open ground, twelve
or fifteen feet apart. The trees can be
easily transferred, and either kept in
the house or moved about at pleasure
to beautify different parts of the garden.
Young trees can be moved at any time,
because the roots, extending in every
direction," hold a fine ball of earth
around them. — Ex.

100

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

editorial (&\mn\n$$.

GRASS AND ROSES.

I looked where the roses were blooming,
They stood among grasses and weeds;

I said, " Where such beauties are growing
"Why suffer these paltry weeds ? "

Weeping, the poor things faltered,
"We have neither beauty nor bloom,
We are grass in the roses' garden,
But the Master gives us room.

" Slaves of a generous Master,
Born from a world above,
We came to this place in his wisdom,
We stay to this hour from his love.

"We have fed his humblest creatures,
We have served him truly and long ;
He gave no grace to our features,
We have neither color nor song.

" Yet He who has made the flowers,
Placed us on the self-same sod ;
He knows our reason for being-—
We are grass in the garden of God."

Marketable Fruits. — Nearly every
variety of fruit at some time in the last
decade has been a glut in California,
and it has usually been the case that
the overstocking of the market was fol-
lowed by a reaction and a scarcity of
the same variety. Calif ornians are a
race of people easily stampeded. The
dabblers in stocks are not the only ones
who rush first in one direction and then
in another. Farmers and fruit-grow-
ers are subject to the same desire to
grow suddenly rich, and the result is a
glutted market. Fruit-growers espe-
cially, whose productions are so perish-
able, have rreed to comprehend the great
question of market. Different sections
of the country are adapted to different
kinds of fruits, both in the nature of the
soil and atmospheric conditions, and the
location. It would be folly for a man
whose place is one hundred or two hun-
dred miles from market to think of com-

peting with the man who lives adjacent
to the metropolis in the production of
Peaches, Berries, and other soft fruits.
But in the raising of late winter Apples,
Grapes for raisins or wine making, he
can successfully compete with those who
are better situated. The large supplies
of Oregon Apples which are now sup-
pling the California market is very
suggestive of the capabilities of the
mountain sections to occupy this field
and to furnish Apples for the winter
use. To the end of remedying these
things, the Fruit - Growing Association
should compile and furnish statistics*
and information that could be relied on
by the fruit-growers themselves, and by
which they might shape their actions.
The growing of such fruits as find a
ready market in the East can hardly be
overdone. The supply of Bartlett Pears
has never yet been large enough to sup-
ply the wants of Eastern houses, be-
cause they can be sent to Chicago and
New York before fruit of the same kind
can reach those markets from any other
section. If there are other kinds that
may be grown without limit, and with
profit, the fruit-growers should have
full knowledge of the fact and govern
themselves accordingly. — Call.

Begonias. — There are two very dis-
tinct classes of Begonias — the one tu-
berous-rooted and valued chiefly for
their flowers, not that the foliage is in
any way inferior; the other for their
foliage, though many of these are at-
tractive for their flowers as well. Both
classes possess a distinguishing, rare,
eccentric beauty — whether we view their
flowers or foliage — 'that invests them
with a special adaptability to certain
purposes. Of the foliage section, many
bear leaves afoot in length — some of
them of a metallic - olive color, spotted

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

101

and doubly margined "with lighter and
darker shades of a silvery and coppery
lustre; others with a grisaille -colored
disk, margined and veined with crim-
son ; while both upper and under sur-
faces, as well as the petioles, are thick-
ly covered with bright red hairs. The
tuberous -rooted Begonias have annual
stems and require a rest during the
winter, beginning a new growth early
in spring. The leaves are fleshy, of a
rich, glabrous green, often doubly tooth-
ed or incised, and the habit of the plants
is generally free and branching. The
flowers of this section are often of great
size and of various colors, such as white,
cream, sulphur, orange, pink, salmon,
magenta. If, out of doors, Begonias
are more captivating in one situation
than another, it is when, in a shady,
secluded uook, they are interspersed
with Ferns, Echeverias, Klenias, Se-
dmns, Agaves and Cacti. Indoors, a
greenhouse temperature is suitable,
and the soil needs no especial prepara-
tion.

Management op Pot Plants. — Ama-
teurs are apt, in re-potting plants, to
make the soil too rich, under the im-
pression that, because the roots are con-
fined within a small compass, necessarily
the soil must be very fat. Such is not
the fact. Flowering plants should not
have the soil over rich. They do bet-
ter in pure soil, free from an excessive
quantity of manure. "What is used,
should be the most thoroughly digested
compost. The successful florist under-
stands that the soil requires only to be
in that normal state to insure perfect
and continuous growth; and, therefore,
instead of making the soil in pots over
rich, he depends upon stimulating by
means of liquid manure. A mistake
generally made, in shifting from one
pot to another, is the use of too large

pots as the plants increase in size. In
changing, use pots only one size larger
than the plant was in before. To do
this in the best manner put some drain-
age in the bottom of the jjots, say half
an inch of broken flower pots for four-
inch size, being careful to close the hole
in the bottom by laying a piece thereon;
on this place a little rich compost mixed
with one-half its bulk of sharp sand.
Then place a pot one size less than the
one containing the plant to be moved.
Fill in around this with the same mate-
rial, pretty finely packed. Lift out the
pot and fill with soil, just so that the
ball of earth in which the plant is con-
tained will reach to about half an inch
of the rim of the new pot. Now set the
plant in and cave the earth about it from
the sides, and fill up level with more
soil. — Western Rural.

New Fruit Trees. — The Persimmon-
tree of Japan is recommended by an
Eastern agricultural society for general
adoption. Members state that the fruit
is much larger than the Southern fruit;
that it makes a sweet and delicious pre-
serve treated in any of the ordinary
ways. We have tasted them put up
like figs, and we can speak of their ex-
cellence. The peculiarity is greater
sweetness and some aroma, which re-
quire time to accommodate to all tastes.
Our nurserymen have the trees, and we
believe they thrive well. The Paw-paw
is also recommended. It is indigenous
South. The fruit is a sort of Apple,
and the taste is of a kind well suited to
the table. Its leaves are valuable for
one peculiarity : meat, however tough,
is rendered tender by being wrapped in
them for four to six hours. The seeds
are a capital vermifuge. In California
we need addition to our list of fruits.
Mexico has many. The Zapote is as

102

THE CALIFOBNIA HOKTICTTLTUBIST.

large as our apple tree; its leaves are of
a richer green, and its Apple -like fruit
is rich and mellow as a Pear. Santa
Barbara has a lone lady Zapote, eighty
years old, and a great bearer. Like
the Ailanthus, the male tree fertilizes
but does not fruit. The lady fruit is
imperfect, because no male attends, —
Call.

Don't Prune the Vines Yet. — Viti-
culturists should not forget that for the
past two years we have had heavy frosts
between the 1st and the 6th of April.
Nor should they forget that those vine-
yards that had been pruned early, and
had in consequence sent out new and
tender shoots, were greatly injured, and
the crop for the season almost entirely
destroyed ; while those that had not
been pruned until after the frosts nam-
ed were not injured at all and bore
heavy crops of Grapes. "What happen-
ed last year and the year before may
happen again, and prudence will at least
prompt those who have vineyards to put
off the time of pruning until after all
danger is over. It will cost no more to
prune the 1st of April than at any other
time, and the vines will be the better
for the delay, even should there be no
frost. By that time the time of bleed-
ing would be past, and the check which
the late pruning will give the vines will
have the effect to prevent too luxuriant
a growth of wood, and will improve
both the size and flavor of the Grapes.
— Sacramento Record- Union.

Oregon "Woods. — Mr. Dufur has col-
lected in all thirty-three varieties of
Oregon woods, which have been gath-
ered by his personal efforts, the means
for bringing the same out of the mount-
ains and forests having been furnished
by a few gentlemen at Portland, among

whom are Messrs. B. B. Thompson,
Ladd, Corbett, and Failing. Yfe noted
one specimen of Fir, a transverse section
cut 130 feet from the ground, measur-
ing 1\ feet across; another cut 200 feet
from the ground measured 5 feet across.
A Spruce section cut 98 feet from the
ground measured 1\ feet, and at 143
feet height, it shows a section 5J feet
in diameter of the tree. A Laurel meas-
ures 42 inches across; an Alder 40 in-
ches, a Chittim-wood 14 inches, a Larch
5 feet. A Silver Pine is on exhibiton, a
remarkable wood that finishes equal to
Satin-wood, and is only found in mount-
ains at an altitude of 4,000 feet, which
is said to be only known in the Alps
and in our Cascade mountains. A cab-
inet Hemlock, found near the coast,
makes very fine cabinet work. Of course
there are specimens of the beautiful
Oregon Maple, and of many other woods
we need not name.

Weeping Trees. — The association of
the common Weeping Willow with wa-
ter leads people to think that it will not
succeed elsewhere ; but there are few
spots, even away from water, in which
it will not thrive, if the soil be deep.
We have seen really grand specimens of
it growing on lawns. Scarcely less
beautiful is the Weeping Birch. Al-
though its spray is not so long as that
of the Willow, yet, owing to the tree
being more lofty, it is nearly equally
effective. Not so graceful, jDerhaps, as
either of these, but a better arbor tree,
is the Weeping Ash. Owing to its ex-
treme pendulous habit, it is necessary
that it should be worked on very tall
stocks, as, if height is not secured at
first, it cannot be obtained afterward.
The Weeping Ash should be planted in
quiet, secluded spots, where when fully
grown, it may form a pleasant retreat

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

103

during sunny days. It -will be found
that a tree with a stem considerably
bent or inclined at the top will form the
most convenient arbor tree, as the posi-
tion of the stem will then be at one
side, instead of in the centre.

Wet the Cuttings. — In planting cut-
tings of Grapes, the butt- ends should
be kept in water, or buried in the ground
and kept wet, some days, or even weeks,
before setting out. By this method the
buds swell, and they start to root very
quickly after being set out. There is
no way so successful as planting with a
bar, provided that the lower part of the
hole is tamped full of dirt. This is a
very essential point, because, as often
happens, if the lower end of the cane
which contains the root-buds or eyes is
not closely packed with earth, but hangs
loosely in the hole, the minute root-
fibres will sprout out, and instead of
taking hold in the soil, will twine them-
selves round and round the cutting it-
self and soon die. Whenever a certain
number of cuttings do not grow it is
one year's time lost on them, besides
the labor of resetting, and it will pay
in both time and money to exercise the
greatest care in this regard. Where a
small number only of choice cuttings
are being set out, it is a good plan to
pour a little water in each hole after
putting in the cutting, which settles the
dirt around the bottom.

A Rose - Flowering Locust. — A late
number of the London Garden furnish-
es a handsome colored plate of what it
terms the "Rosy Locust." It is not
the old Rose Locust, or Iiobinia hispida,
so well known in this country, but a
variety of the Bobinia pseitdacacia (or
common locust), having handsome light
red flowers, or rather numerous red

stripes running across the otherwise
white petals. It must make a magnifi-
cent appearance when the trees are in
bloom. It appears that a large num-
ber of varieties of the locust, both in
the color of the flowers and in the form
of the trees, have been originated,
among which is a weeping tree, and
one growing upright like the Lombardy
Poplar.

A Beautiful Tree. — The Camphor-tree
perfumes the air, its leaves yields the
finest honey. It often reaches a hun-
dred feet in height with a girth of fifty
feet. The precious gum is found some-
times in layers as large as a man's arm,
but more frequently in small fragments,
extracted with sharp-pointed instru-
ments. The wood is excellent for
house, ship timber, and furniture, and
excepting the Teak and Calumbuco is
the only wood never attacked by the
myriads of voracious insects in the East
Indies. The common kinds of camphor
are procured by distillation.

Maurandia Barclayana. — This is an
elegant greenhouse perennial, but can
be easily raised from seed in a hot -bed
or in the sitting-room, and if planted in
the flower garden will bloom freely from
August until cut down by frost. It
makes one of the most beautiful of
house plants for training over a win-
dow, as it will bear the sun well, and is
a profuse bloomer. The flowers are of
different colors, ranging from a rich
purple to rose color and white. The
plants grow from six to ten feet in
height, and climb by means of their
leaf-stalks, which they use as tendrils
to twist around the string given them
for support. The plant is a native of
Mexico and has been in cultivation since
1825. It grows readily either from
seeds or cutting.

104

THE CALIFOENIA HOETICULTUEIST.

Flower Pots in Booms. — Pots which
contain ornamental plants in rooms are
ofteen needlessly repulsive by the ex-
posure of the earth in which they are
planted. We have found a covering of
an inch of white sand to prevent crust-
ing the surface or soiling the edges of
the pot, and at the same time allowing
free watering. A more ornamental ap-
pearance is effected by procuring from
the woods the handsome flakes of fresh
green moss, found in danip places or on
rotten logs, and covering the earth in
the pots neatly with one of these flakes.
It serves as a mulch, keeps the earth
moist and mellow, admits watering, and
furnishes a neat green carpet under the
plants.

Oregon Fruit. — The people of Oregon
are proceeding to engage heavily in the
cultivation of fruit, especially Plums
and Prunes, with a view, of course, to
manufacturing dried fruits on a large
scale. The fact that one orchardist
claims to have sold his Plums for years
past at an average of $1,000 per acre
per annum has caused people to appre-
ciate the value of fruit as a crop. Since
fruit-driers have become a sure thing,
there is no reason why we should not
make the most of our climatic advan-
tages for the production of fruit. Plums
and Prunes are our easiest crop to raise
and most reliable as to yield.

Evergreen Screens. — The Scientific
American recommends evergreen screens
as protectors of fruit trees, and thinks
the benefit extends to a distance equal
to the height of the tree. We are sur-
prised at this narrow estimate. The
late Isaac Pullen, of New Jersey, show-
ed us evergreen screens twenty-five feet
high, the marked benefits of which ex-
tended more than twenty rods. B.

Macomber, of Grand Isle, Vt., found a
decided advantage at a distance nearly
as great, and others have experienced
similar advantages.

Wash for Trees. — The Practical
Farmer, speaking of a wash for bodies
of fruit-trees, recommends the follow-
ing: One ounce of copperas to eight or
ten gallons of water forms a good wash,
and is advised for trial as a preventive
against blight. One pound of Breach-
es' soda and one gallon of water forms
a wash that cleanses off all insects, and
leaves the trees with fresh, young-look-
ing, healthy bark.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,

Fob the Month ending Febkuaet 29, 1876.

(Prepared for The Hokticultubist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
423 Washington Street, near the Post Office) .

BAEOMETEB.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.16 in.

do 12 m 30.16

do 3 p. ai 30.15

do 6p.m 30.15

Highest point on the 14th at 12 m 30.42

Lowest point on the 8th at 3 p. m 29.62

THEBMOMETEB.
( With north exposure and free, from reflected heat. J

Mean height at 9 a. m 51°

do 12 m 56°

do 3 p. M 58°

do 6 p. M 52°

Highest point on the 22d at 'J p. m 67c

Lowest point on the 29th at 9 a. m 44°

SELF - EEGISTEEING THEBMOMETEB.

Mean height during the night 43°

Highest point at sunrise on the 22d 48°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 26th 36°

WINDS.
North and north - west on 13 days ; north - east on 4
days; west on 2 days; east and south-east on 5 days;
south and south - west on 5 days.

WEATHEE.

Clear all day 11 days; cloudy all day 6 days; variable
on 12 days; rain on 7 days.

EAIN GAUGE. • Inches.

7th 0.32

8th 1.39

9th 0 07

10th 1.05

24th 0.24

25th 0.06

27th .- 0.83

Total 3.96

Previously reported 16.44

Total for the season 20.40

J3ig J ree of California

(Sequoia gigantea).

THE

etfc

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI. SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL, 1876. No. 4.

ALOE PLANTS (AGAVES).

BY DE. A. KELLOGG.

Of these the most common is the
the Pita, or Century Plant (A. Ameri-
cana). The last name is from an ancient
gardener's fable, that it blooms only
once in a hundred years, which as ev-
ery one knows on this coast is not true;
but having been so stated, when less
known, has echoed along the ages like
ten thousand other wonderful things,
deemed too trivial to correct. These
magnificent succulents do, it is true,
husband their resources for many years,
so that some little pretext is given to
the fiction founded on fact. "Were not
this species so well known we might be
excused for dwelling a moment on its
specific description. Suffice to say, it
has a vast mass of sturdy fleshy leaves
four to "six feet long, and one-half to a
foot wide, or more, at the base, being
several inches thick, pointed by fearful
goading spines; these, massed, make
most horrid hedges, perfectly barricad-
ed and impenetrable; the flower stem
is simply enormous, forming a towering
chandelier thirty to forty feet high,
sometimes a foot in diameter at the
base. Sparingly distributed they give

Vol. VI.— 8.

picturesque effect to extensive grounds.
The fibres of both Yuccas and Agaves
are extremely tough, and make excel-
lentcoarse cordage, stronger than hemp;
but, as they do not take tar kindly, are
inflexibly stubborn in storms, reluctant-
ly twist and willfully untwist, and for
manifold reasons they are given over
chiefly to diy goods, and for strong
sacking, etc. Both leaves and roots by
beating and maceration yield a large
amount of fibre called pita thread, and
paper as well as clothing is obtained
from them. These and their various
uses have a reputation extending far
back into , the traditional times of the
aborigines and Aztecs. Some yield
soap (A. saponaria) in the form of evap-
orated juice. A kind of beer is made
from the bud-sap called pulque — foetid
as carrion, but relished greatly if one
hold his nose meanwhile; said to be sa-
lubrious, diuretic, etc. The root is pu-
rifying and curative in certain cases like
sarsaparilla. An intoxicating brandy
" strong as chain lightning " is obtain-
ed from several varieties chiefly Agavece
cubensis and A. Mexicana, called "mes-
ical " or " aguardiente de maguey."

The Utah Aloe (A. Utahense) is a new
species recently described by Doctor

106

THE CALIFORNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

Engleman, collected by Doctor Palmer
and Mr. J. E. Johnson. This species
is well worthy the attention of florists,
a fine ornament for gardens, and es-
pecially for parks and sandy dunes.
The leaves, as usual, thick and fleshy,
terminate in a strong spine, the mar-
gins mostly spring-toothed, one to two
feet long, a crowded crown ranging
from the base of the flower-stem, which
is only five or six feet high, springing
from a short stump or trunk, fibrous-
rooted. The flowers are small and
yellow, close set against the main $tem
in pairs or fours. For limited space
this very ornamental species will ere
long be in great request.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE WOKLD'S
VEGETATION.

BY A BOTANIST.

' ' Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege
Through all the years of this our life to lead
From joy to joy; for she can so inform
The mind that is within us, so impress
"With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all
The dreary intercourse of daily life,
Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith that all that we behold
Is full of blessings."

The study of vegetable fossils, as re-
lating to the knowledge of the first
growth of trees, plants, etc., upon the
earth, is, it is to be admitted, far less
satisfactory than that of the animal re-
mains, since in the great majority of
cases the structures most distinctive of
the subordinate groups of plants are
formed of very perishable matter. The
genera, and even species, of animals
may be recognized by bones and shells,
which are of a very persistent nature,
and are found abundantly in stratified

rocks and other formations and deposits.
But the vegetable bodies which can re-
sist the long continued action of water
are few, and these afford only characters
of large sections of the vegetable king-
dom, without furnishing generic, far
less specific, distinctions. It is there-
fore probable that the fossil plants hith-
erto found only partially represent the
flora of remote ages, and there is no
denying that ideas obtained from fossil
plants of the first vegetation on our
globe must be necessarily superficial
and very speculative. Still, their study
is very interesting to the inquiring and
reflective mind. There is a sufficient
amount of evidence furnished by them,
however, to show satisfactorily that the
first plants did not originate from seed,
but from spores. They were undoubt-
edly cryptograms. The first land plants
were certainly swamp plants— Mosses
fitted to live in water as Bog-mosses are
to-day accustomed to do, gigantic Cala-
mites and Lepidodendra; for ever since
land existed there have been plants of
tree - like proportions and bulk. It is
not necessary that there should be a rich
and varied flora for this result to be
produced. Were there no other plants
in existence now but those belonging to
the natural order Rosacese, we should
still "have herbs, shrubs, and trees cov-
ering the landscape ; the yellow Cinque-
foil (Potentilla Canadensis), and the wild
Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), are
lovely herbaceous plants; the common
Blackberry (Rubus villosus), and the
Swamp Rose {Rosa lucida), are shrubs;
and the Apple, Pear, Plum, and Cher-
ry, are the fruits of trees, yet the whole
of these are Rosaceous plants. There-
fore, notwithstanding the great same-
ness of the plants which covered the an-
cient landscapes of our earth, they were
not without their trees.

As the land became elevated and free

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

107

from water, Cycadaceae, Coniferse and a
plant allied to the Pandanus or Screw
Pine of the tropics, were added to these
primeval forests; then the Dicotyledon-
ous trees with true leaves, such as the
Willow arid Maple, and along with these
we find the first evidence of the creation
of flowers (our now continual charms),
for Nature is always consistent with her-
self, flowers being, as is at the present
time universally admitted, nothing but
the ordinary leaves of the stem, brought
together in consequence of a loss of
vegetative power in the branch on which
they are borne, and metamorphosed
with reference to the reproductive func-
tion. The first bee makes its appear-
ance in the amber or fossil resin of the
Pines of the Eocene period; the frag-
ments of the wings of butterflies and
other flower - sucking insects are also
frequently met with inclosed in the
same curious and history-telling sub-
stance. Dicotyledonous trees of a low
order of organization, such as the Birch,
Beech, Oak, Poplar, Chestnut, and
Hornbeam, were probably as abundant
in the forests of the Eocene period as
they are now in some of our present
woods. But there is no proof of the
creation of Rosaceous plants. These
seem to be coeval with the first appear-
ance of man.

Our forest trees were, therefore, not
all created at the one time, but are the
product of different geological eras; and
the present plant - covering is only a
fragment of many antecedent plant-
creations. Coniferous trees with needle-
shaped leaves, such as the Pine, Fir
and Larch; also Ferns, Horsetails, and
Club -mosses, are among the most an-
cient and persistent types. They have
descended down to us from the oldest
periods of the creation. This remark ;
applies especially to the natural order
Coniferse, which, from the most ancient

times even until now, in new varieties
and splendors, has continued to develop.
The first flowers among herbaceous
plants appear to have been land and
water Lilies, and plants belonging to
the natural order Ericaceae or the Heath
tribe, such as the Whortleberry ( Vac-
cinium), and the Alpine Rose (Rhodo-
dendron). Among trees bearing true
leaves and conspicuous for flowers, the
Tulip or Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron
tulipifera) appears to be an ancient for-
est form; so also trees belonging to the
natural order Leguminosse or the Pea
tribe, such as the False Acacia (Robinia
pseudo-acacia), and the Honey Locust
(Gleditschia triacanthus). These trees all
preceded Rosaceous plants in the plan
of creation. Trees bearing edible fruits,
as well as beautiful blossoms, such as
the Peach, Apricot, Apple, Pear, Plum
and Cherry, were introduced when the
earth was fitted for the reception of
man; their remains are only found in
the modern geological formations now
in progress, and therefore, like them,
they must be regarded as among the
recent creations.

The most important fact taught by
this geological history of the plant
world, is that the organic and inorganic
creation very slowly assumed its present
appearance, and the evidence would
seem to lead us irresistibly to the con-
clusion that changes have taken place
in the organization of plants, by which
these forms have been gradually and
contemporaneously adapted to the ever-
changing landscape. Hence the history
of the development of plants is inti-
mately associated with the history of
those physical changes which the earth's
surface has undergone. Just as the
present form of a grand and venerable
tree, which appears to us to be fixed,
but in reality' is as fleeting as all the
other forms through which that tree has

108

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

passed from its first life-movement in
the seed, is the final result of a long
series of antecedent changes, so with
the globe which we inhabit, The pres-
ent appearance, or, more truthfully
speaking, phase of creation, is the nec-
essary result of a long succession of an-
tecedent changes of which the earth's
crust has preserved the memorial. This
world, what is it but a great and ancient
theatre, where the scenery of life is ev-
er changing ? And who dare say that
the present arrangement of land and
water, the forms of our modern forest
trees, and of the entire animal creation,
are any more fixed and unalterable than
at any previous epoch? Nothing on
earth is permanent, if there is any truth
in the teachings of the past, and any
constancy in nature.

THE MOCK WEEPING WILLOW (CEIL-
OPSIS LINEARIS.)

BY DK. A. KELLOGG.

"We wish simply to invite attention
to this new and very graceful orna-
mental tree. Once fairly introduced it
will ever after commend itself. At this
time of writing we can find no reference
to it, and can therefore only state from
memory. It has been known to us
more than a decade of years, and, like
a thousand other things, a transient re-
flection awakens our astonishment at
its neglect.

This Bignoniaceous flowering tree has
so much the general aspect of a Willow
that it deceived our early railroad sur-
veyors, who reported it a desert "Willow;
but since subsequently seen in fruit and
flower the first illusion was dissipated,
and now with abundant specimens we
have a Trumpet- tree, blooming nearly
the whole year round. The short, trum-
pet-formed flowers are of a creamy

white, often striped or pink-blushed to
purplish; they come out at the tips of
long flexile twigs, bearing slender pods
eight to ten inches in length, which
weigh down and droop the branches
with an extra added grace.

In its native habitat it seems to seek
the dry creek beds and banks like a
Willow, clothing with verdure gulches
and hollows; it is also seen struggling
against drifting sands as well as wash-
ing waters; whether overwhelmed by
the one or the other for a time, it rises
again and again, marching onward to
ultimate victory. It has been seldom
seen over a foot in diameter, being
more frequently repressed by its sterile
surroundings to a mere shrub. This
charming perennial bloomer, with its
long and narrow leaves and general
graceful port, we trust will soon be-
come a general favorite for its own sake.
Let the future tester of its utility for
holding millions of acres from devas-
tating floods, railroad embankments,
and destructive sands, sing its praises
to a more appreciating age.

FLY FISHING AND THEOWING THE FLY.

BY PISCATOE.

No outdoor amusement or pastime to
the botanist and lover of nature, or to
the horticulturist, supposing that any
of these are accustomed (at times, at
any rate) to the practice of angling, is
more enjoyable, and the associations
nected with it, than fly-fishing for
either trout or salmon. The Pentste-
mons and Eschscholtzias fringe his path
as he goes to the mountain stream for his
pastime. The perfume of the wild blos-
soms of many shrubs floats upon the
breeze for his enjoyment. How grand,
too, the scenery that he sometimes en-
joys! Rocks and crags high beetling

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

109

to the sky, and mighty bowlders lie
strewed around, resting in the verdant
beds of Ferns and Chemisal, or sternly
standing out among patches of Lilac or
Buckeye. A stillness here reigns, scarce
broken by the rivulet that murmurs on
its rugged way. The crested quail that
darts among the bushes, the piping
note of the curlew, or the plaintive
whistle of the sandpiper, and the shrill
call of the plover, at times startle him
from his sport; but all unite to give a
zest to his day out among the mountain
streams, which can not be truly appre-
ciated but by those who have experi-
enced it; for " trouting in a mountain
brook is an experience of life so distinct
from every other, that every man should
enjoy at least one in his day." "We
could fill pages in descanting on na-
ture's beauties and attractions while
fishing, but this is not what we had in
view, chiefly, when we commenced this
paper. The object was a more practi-
cal one — to discourse on throwing the
fly, that fascinating, neat, and delicate
operation in angling. Well, we will
suppose that rod, line, and stinting are
all ready, save that the gut stinting is
in stiff rings or coils, and does not look
as if it could be thrown by any means
straight out. To remove these let one
take a piece of India rubber and draw
this stinting or leader over it. By this
means he will straighten it at once, in-
stead of having to steep his line some
time in water, a process recommended
by some, but which may thus be obviat-
ed and time saved, as well as any defi-
ciencies discovered in the line before
using it. There are two general meth-
ods of throwing or casting in ordinary
fly-fishing — the right-round and the left-
round casting or throioing. Supposing,
then, you have your line put on of the
length above described, let out a little
more reel-line, so that your casting-

line, stinting, or leader, and what you
let out of your reel-line, are together
half as long as your rod. Take hold of
your rod, letting the butt-end reach
nearly to your elbow, with the reel-line
between your forefinger and rod, ready
for a run if you hook a large fish, and
make the right-round cast in the follow"
ing way: Raise the hand and forefinger
slightly, causing the point of the rod to
pass outwardly or on the right hand
side, bring the top part of the butt of
the rod over your right shoulder and
toward your right ear, and so forward,
and around the same way again once or
twice. By this movement you will get
the line on the sweep, which should be
in an oval or egg-shaped form, the long-
er diameter of the loop thus formed be-
ing from front to back, and the smaller
point of the oval the object you are fish-
ing over or throwing at, and this in an ob-
lique position. When it is coming the
third time round past your ear, force the
point of the rod smartly forward by the
action of the thumb and wrist, aiming,
as it were, your end fly at the place you
wish it to light upon. Be careful at the
same time not to let the point of your
rod touch the water. To prevent this,
after you have made the forward move-
ment, gently raise the point of your rod
a little, and let the line fall where it is
directed. If you are using a very long
line your arm will have to be brought
into more play, to assist the stronger
action required of the thumb and wrist
in throwing the whole of the line clear
out. The greatest care is required to
let the line be well behind you in the
oval sweep before you make the forward
smart movement, or you will, undoubt-
edly, either crack off your end fly, or
your line and flies will beat in a heap
just before you, to your no small mor-
tification. Always have your best killer
for the tail or end fly, because you thus

110

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

save much entanglement when netting
your fish, and can east it to any point
you choose. When you wish, then, to
cast over a fish that you have seen rise
in a still pool, where the water is as
bright and clear as glass, give him
the point fly only, and just on the place
where he rose. Undoubtedly great skill
is required to make your line fall light-
ly on the water, which in all cases it
ought to do. If the fish rise in an eddy
by the side of a fall or stream, or in a
pool, cast your fly on to the very spot
where he rose. If you throw above
your fish in general stream fishing, you
will see him dart to meet and take your
fly as he does the natural one. If he
miss it, cast again and again, as long
as he rises, until you either hook or kill
him, and do not leave him before you
do one or the other. When trout are
feeding well, you may rise them several
times without hooking them; it is, how-
ever, far more satisfactory to kill one of
these than half a dozen that give you
no trouble. When a fish rises strike
promptly, but not too full or hard; and
if he be very strong let him run out
with your reel-line, carefully and al-
ways gradually stopping him from mak-
ing to some hold or impediment. If
he throws himself clear out of the wa-
ter, the moment he does so put your
hand well forward, so as to let him beat
easy on the water, and ease your line if
he should chance to hit with his tail;
but, as soon as he beats, haul him taut
again, and so wind up your line until
you can reach him with your landing
net, or gaff. A gentle breeze, as it aids
the lure, is always favorable to fly-fish-
ing. When fishing you should be con-
stantly watching your flies, otherwise
they will be taken at a disadvantage to
you, and the fish most probably lost.
In fishing in a deep pool cast your flies
across, and suffer them to sink a little,

then draw them very softly back, giving
them a slight shake, without breaking
or making circles in the water, and let
them swim down a little before bring-
ing them out again for a fresh cast.
The best time for fly-fishing is the fore-
noon, from about eight to eleven, tak-
ing the season through, and nest to
this the evening, from five until dark.
Miss no water that is likely to hold fish;
the variety is pleasing, if not quite so
profitable. Never, by any means,
plunge about in the water needlessly
because you happen to be wading, for
by so doing you will scare away more
fish than you take. There is always
" a feed " during some part of the day,
and that is the time to kill the bulk of
your fish. This is known from the way
in which they begin to rise, as they
make the water appear quite alive at
such times. Take every precaution to
throw your flies on the water naturally;
that is, in the same way the insects
themselves alight upon it, and let your
imitation have as nearly as possible the
same motion through the water, for
trout readily detect any unnatural mo-
tion. Mild showery weather is gener-
ally good for sport, and frequently, in
the height of the season, a downright
wet day insures a heavy creel. In all
streams much flogged by anglers small
flies will be found to kill best, other-
wise the larger the fly the more sure are
you to hook your fish, and these gener-
ally of a larger size; but the kind of
river and the color of the water will, in
almost all cases, regulate their dimen-
sions.

THE TEAVELS OF PLANTS.

Many familiar plants have been great
travelers in their day. Some that are
now thoroughly domesticated in our
own land, and which we might suppose

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Ill

to be true " native Americans," are
merely naturalized foreigners from be-
yond the sea; and, on the other hand,
some that belong to the vegetable abo-
rigines of this "Western hemisphere have
migrated to the Old World, and are
now quite at home in the " cultivated "
circles of Europe. The birthplace of
some is not easily traced, as their trav-
els began in prehistoric times, and they
are now citizens of the world, bearing
no mark of their primal home. The
wanderings of others have been confin-
ed to modern days, and are recorded
with more or less accuracy.

In ancient times, plants were oftener
distributed by warriors than in any oth-
er way. Alexander brought Rice from
Persia to the Mediterranean, the Arabs
carried it to Egypt, the Moors to Spain,
and the Spaniards to America. Lucul-
lus brought the Cherry-tree (which
takes its. name from Cerasus, the city of
Pontus where he found it) to Rome, as
a trophy of his Mithridatic campaign;
and 120 years later, or in a. d. 46, as
Pliny tells us, it was carried to En-
gland. Caesar is said to have given Bar-
ley to both Germany and Britain. Ac-
cording to Strabo, Wheat came origi-
nally from the banks of the Indus, but it
had reached the Mediterranean before
the dawn of authentic history. Both
Barley and Wheat came to the new
world with its conquerors and colonists,
and the Maize which they found here
soon went to Europe in exchange. It
was known in England in less than fifty
years after the discovery of America; it
was introduced to the Mediterranean
countries, by way of Spain, at the end
of the sixteenth century, and the Vene-
tians soon carried it to the Levant.
Later it traveled up the Danube to
Hungary, and gradually spread east-
ward to China. While it was thus in-
vading the regions formerly devoted to

Rice, the former, as we have said, was
establishing itself in this country.

The Sugar-cane, which with its sweet
product was known to the Greeks and
Romans only as a curiosity, seems to
have been cultivated in India and China
from the earliest times. Its introduc*
tion into Europe was one of the results
of the Crusades, and thence it was
transplanted to Madeira, and early in
the sixteenth century from that island
to the West Indies. The original home
of " King Cotton " was probably in Per-
sia or India, though it is also mention-
ed in the early annals of Egypt, and
had spread throughout Africa in very
ancient times. The Tea-plant has not
proved a very good traveler, though its
dried leaves have been carried in such
quantities throughout the civilized
world. The English' have, however,
succeeded in naturalizing it in Assam,
and a very fine quality of Tea is now
produced there.

It is a curious fact that the use of the
Coffee berry was unknown in its native
country, Arabia, until a mufti of Aden
introduced the beverage from Persia,
where he had acquired a taste for it.
It has now become established in most
of the tropical lands colonized by Euro-
peans, who did not themselves become
acquainted with it until late in the six-
teenth century.

The Potato was found in Peru and
Chili by the first explorers of those
countries, who soon carried it to Spain.
It is said to have reached Burgundy in
1560, and Italy about the same time.
It appears to have been brought from
Virginia to Ireland by Hawkins, a slave
trader, in 1565; and to England in 1585
by Drake, who presented some tubers
to Gerard, who planted them in his
garden in London, and described the
plant in his " Herbal;" and it was also
introduced by Raleigh at about the

112

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

same date. But it was slow to attract
attention, and it was not till a century
later that it began to be much cultivat-
ed. In 1663 the Royal Society publish-
ed rules for its culture, and from that
time it rapidly gained favor. The Dutch
carried it to the Cape of Good Hope in
1800, and thence it made its way to In-
dia.

The travels of the Bread-fruit tree
became notorious in connection with
the mutiny of the Bounty. A recent
English writer gives the following facts
in this connection:

"On Dampier's return from the South
Sea Islands he brought accounts of this
tree which astonished the civilized
world, and the botanists of Captain
Cook's expedition to the Society Islands
afterward described it as ' the most
wonderful vegetable in the world,5 and
represented the excellence of its yellow
sweet fruit in such glowing terms that
the British public became excited,
many persons being bitten with the
idea of unadulterated bread and penny
loaves growing ready baked on a tree !
Petitions on this subject were sent to
George III., and at length the Bounty
was fitted up for the purpose of con-
veying the tree from the Pacific to our
colonies in the West Indies. She ar-
rived at Tahiti in 1788, and shipped
1,500 young trees, with which her com-
mander, Bligh, set off, intending to
round the Cape of Good Hope, when
the mutiny broke out, and the trees
were lost. But the proposed migration
was afterward accomplished by the nav-
igator, and the cape was passed with-
out exposing the delicate bread-bearing
plants to a temperature below 61° F.
Some of the trees were left at New Hol-
land, others at St. Helena, and the
rest were landed at Jamaica and St.
Vincent, and the vessel freighted from
the garden there with plants for Kew."

In modern times, useful plants have
been carried to all new countries and
colonies where the soil and climate suit
them. Australia, for example, was sin-
gularly bare of native fruits; possessing
only a few poor species of Currants and
Plums, she has become a land of fruits
and flowers too numerous to mention.
Peaches, Nectarines, Pine - apples,
Plums, Pears, Apples, Oranges, Lem-
ons, Citrons, Strawberries, Bananas,
and Mangoes, with many other fruits,
including the Grape, all grow in per-
fection in Australia, as does the grain
of Europe generally, and Wheat espe-
cially.

We have given but a few illustrations
of the travels of plants, out of a multi"
tude that presented themselves. A vol-
ume could be filled without exhausting
the subject.

THE DEPAETMENT OF HOKTICULTUEE
AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION.

Charles H. Miller, Chief of the Bu-
reau of Horticulture, has given into the
hands of the printers of the official cata-
logue the list of exhibitors in the Uni-
ted States section of the Horticultural
Department, so that the work of the
Bureau, as far as it concerns the classi-
fication and arrangements of the exhib-
its, may be said to be finished. This is
the first of the Centennial Bureaus to
give in the lists for the catalogue, and
the fact shows that the work of this de-
partment is in a very advanced state.

The ground assigned to the Depart-
ment of Horticulture by the Centennial
Commission comprises forty acres of
land, which is being prepared and laid
off into allotments for exhibitors. The
space available for exhibits, and which
is exclusive of walks, sites for buildings
and reserved space, is about 8^ acres, or
363,748 square feet. Of this amount

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

113

323,623 square feet have been applied
for, leaving a balance of 40,125 square
feet.

Some of the exhibitors intend making
very large exhibits of ornamental trees
and shrubs, forest trees, plants of com-
merce, etc. All the representative trees
of this country will be exhibited. Plants
of recent introduction from Japan,
China, and other portions of the world
will also be exhibited. England, France,
Portugal, Brazil, Austria, the Nether-
lands, the Argentine Republic, and
Spain have made applications for space.

In the line of garden adornments the
applications for space show a lively in-
terest among exhibitors. The four
greenhouses on the north and south
sides of the main hall, containing 1,-
600 square feet, exclusive of passages,
have been set apart for exhibits of
choice plants of commerce and tropical
and exotic productions. The main hall
contains 18,400 square feet, and will be
ornamented by a handsome marble
fountain in the centre, together with
four large flower beds of choice tropical
plants, statuary, and specimens of cera-
mic art.

The building is heated by means of
four large return flue boilers, placed in
the basement of the main hall, connect-
ed by a system of iron pipes, laid hori-
zontally under the floor of the passage-
ways. These pipes convey the water to
and from the boilers, and by propulsion
of heat the water is kept in motion
throughout the house, and disseminates
a gentle atmosphere in every part of the
building in the coldest weather, equal
to the temperature in Madeira. By an
arrangement of the connecting valves,
any one of the four forcing houses can
be heated without the others.

The only foreign nations which will
exhibit plants in the building are En-
gland and Spain. England will occupy

a portion of the eastern end of the main
hall, and Spain will occupy a section in
the eastern portion of the southeastern
forcing house. The Netherlands and
Brazil will display a fine collection of
horticultural implements, flower-stands,
statuary, vases, etc., and will occupy a
large room in the northeastern portion
of the building. The room in the north-
western section of the building will be
used as an office for the Bureau. A
portion of the room will be partitioned
off, and will be used as headquarters for
horticulturists from a distance, and the
various horticultural publications will
be kept on file for their use.

The remainder of the building has
been allotted to American exhibitors.
At the north entrance of the building
will be placed a telegraph office, and
at both the north and south entrances
cut flower-stands and soda water fount-
ains. The grounds surrounding the
building will be tastefully laid off into
plots for the exhibition of plants of vari-
ous descriptions. All the grading, sod-
ding and cutting of walks, and a good
deal of the planting, have been done.
Among the exhibits will be 200 distinct
varieties of Geraniums, 100 varieties of
Verbenas, and the largest collection of
Roses which has ever been made in this
country. The sunken garden in front of
the building and extending to Belmont
Avenue has been laid out and will con-
tain beds of flowers, arranged with re-
gard to pattern and colors in imitation
of carpet. Near the middle of the gar-
den will be two handsome fountains.
These beds have already been planted
with hyacinths and tulips, and other
beds have been laid out on either side
of the sunken garden. It is estimated
that 47,000 flowering and ornamental
plants will be required to ornament the
grounds. On the north of the building
will be a flower tent 50 by 150 feet, to

1U

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

be used for an exhibition of Rhododen-
drons. The exhibition will last fifteen
days, after which the tent will be used
for an exhibition of cut flowers.

Two summer houses, one of wood
and one of wire, will be erected on the
grounds, and two manufacturers of rus-
tic furniture will make special exhibits
of rustic chairs, settees, flower-stands,
hanging baskets, etc., to be exhibited
in three buildings, to be erected for the
purpose.

Exhibitors from the "United States
will occupy nearly all the ground in-
cluded between the old Lansdowne
drive (which has been laid out as a prom-
enade), Belmont Avenue, the Women's
Pavilion, and Horticultural Hall. Por-
tugal will occupy a plot in the southeast-
ern portion of the ground. England,
one acre southwest of the hall; Spain
south of the hall; France southeast of
Spain, and the Netherlands south of
France. On the east of Horticultural
Hall a circular plot of ground has been
laid off with a circle of thirteen flower
beds, arranged in the form of stars,
representing the thirteen original States.
In the centre will be a fountain. North
of this and northeast of the hall, is the
ground allotted to Austria.

There is every indication that the dis-
play in the Horticultural Department
will be very extensive and beautiful,
and the exhibits from Pennsylvania and
New Jersey in particular will be highly
creditable and attractive. — Philadelphia
Ledger.

ADVANTAGES OF TIMBER BELTS FOR
ORCHARD PROTECTION.

I inclose a few notes, being outlines
of the opinion I have formed resulting
from an experience and observation in
the Northwest since 1838.

It is a well known fact that the fruit

trees in the orchard, in the lake shore
timber counties in Wisconsin, are more
hardy and productive than in the prai-
rie counties.

The line of demarkation of the differ-
ence in the hardiness and productive-
ness of orchards in the timber and prai-
rie counties bordering on Lake Michi-
gan is quite clearly defined, and is the
southwesterly edge of the timber belt
in Milwaukee and a portion of Eacine
County. In the one instance, the or-
chards in the timber belt are hardy and
productive, as compared with the or-
chards in the prairie section.

The difference which exists can not be
wholly attributed to different winter cli-
matic conditions, or proximity of the
water of Lake Michigan, as the prevail-
ing severest winter wind is from the
northwest, and the maximum degree of
cold in the lake shore and interior coun-
ties varies only one to three degrees, as
is shown by a comparison of the mete-
orological reports for the winter of 1874
and 1875, made by the University of
Wisconsin, located at Madison, and the
United States signal observation office,
Milwaukee station.

Neither can the healthfulness of fruit
trees be wholly ascribed to any differ-
ence of plant food constituents contain-
ed in the soil, from the fact that the
soil, in many of the Orchards in the
timber counties, is variable, and consists
of gradations of sand, clay, gravel and
loam. One at least, if not all of the
soil constituents contained in the or-
chards of the timber counties, is, to a
greater or less extent, similarly photo-
graphed in the soils of orchards in the
prairie counties.

Neither can the productiveness of the
timber county orchards be entirely at-
tributed to their proximity to Lake
Michigan, as the prevailing summer
winds are from the southwest; the di-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTUEIST.

115

rectiou of the wind being toward, in-
stead of from, the lake, and can there-
fore only exert an influence in propor-
tion to the modifying effects of the
temperature, and moisture contained in
and derived from the upper air current
as it j>asses inland from the lake, and
eventually mingles with the lower air
current.

Now, as the hardiness and productive-
ness is not wholly due to extreme cold,
or difference of distances from Lake
Michigan, it is assumed that, aside from
the modifications incident to cultivation
and acclimatized constitutional charac-
teristics of varieties, the natural forest
protection is the potent cause favorable
to the longevity and fruitf ulness of fruit
trees in the timber counties.

It is a well known law "that the ex-
traction of heat and expulsion of moist-
ure from the vegetable, as well as the
physical system, is in proportion to the
degree of temperature and the volume
of moisture contained in the atmosphere
and the volume of wind." Now, as the
prevailing severest winter winds are
from the northwest, the extraction of
latent heat and the exhalation of moist-
ure from exposed vegetation must be
very great.

The effects of excessive evaporation
of heat and exhalation of moisture are
manifested in twisting the foliage of
evergreen trees, and the shriveled ap-
pearance of the small branches of de-
ciduous trees, and resulting in destroy.
ing or impairing their vitality.

Further observation of the healthful-
ness and fruitf ulness of Peach-trees
planted at an early day in the timber
county, when the country was covered
with a dense forest, with only scattered
cleared fields of two to ten acres in ex-
tent, the Peach-trees came into bearing,
and were so productive that many of
the trees broke down with the weight of

fruit, and other trees died from exhaus-
tion caused by over-bearing; but since
the country has been, to a large extent,
denuded of timber, Peach-trees can only
be grown in isolated localities, favored
with some sort of protection. Although
the natural forest has largely decreased
in area, yet that portion remaining is so
very effective in breaking the force of
the winds, that the Apple orchards are
more hardy and fruitful than in the
prairie sections. The beneficial results
derived from natural forest protection
are further visible by observing that the
orchards in the timber region, which
have, natural forest growth adjacent to
the north and west, are more vigorous
and fruitful than orchards half a mile
from such protection, and that the sim-
ilar beneficial results are noticeable in
orchards in the prairie sections which
are partially or wholly surrounded with
timber belts.

Hence it is concluded that natural
forests and timber belts break or impair
the force of wind, and thereby tend to
lessen the extraction of heat and the ex-
halation of moisture from the stems and
branches of fruit trees, and that the or-
chards so protected must be more vig-
orous and productive than the orchards
which are exposed to the full force of
winter winds, moving at a velocity of
thirty to fifty miles per hour.

Milwaukee Co., "Wis. Pioneeb.

DIRECTIONS FOE DRYING LEAVES AND
FLOWERS.

To be able to preserve beautiful
flowers and leaves for years, by means
of drying them, is very desirable for the
botanist, as well as all 'lovers of plants
and flowers. A collection of dried spec-
imens that have been fixed to sheets of
fine white paper is called a Herbarium,
and where the names, place, and time

116

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

of collection of each is given, and all
are systematically arranged under their
general orders, etc., it becomes very in-
teresting. The materials used for dry-
ing fresh or green specimens are sim-
ply a quantity of soft, unsized paper,
such as will absorb moisture quite read-
ily, and a press of some sort. What is
known as blotting paper would be the
best kind of paper for the purpose, but
something much cheaper will answer
very well. Most kinds of paper used
for newspaper printing are good. By
touching the tongue to it, if the moist-
ure left on the surface is quickly ab-
sorbed, then it will answer. Of course
the sooner it shows itself to be absorb-
ed, the better is the paper. The paper
should be cut into sheets sufficiently
small to handle well, and the greater
part of these may be made into driers,
consisting of a dozen or so sheets held
together with a stitch or two of thread.
The specimens to be dried should not
be long picked from the plant before
placing them to press between the dri-
ers. The pressure may be applied by a
regular screw press, or by simply plac-
ing weights on the matter to be press-
ed, when all is ready. A pressure of
fifty pounds would do for small opera-
tions. By having it too heavy, the
more delicate parts of the leaves or
flowers will become bruised. First' lay
down one of the paper driers, on top of
which place a single loose sheet. On
this the leaves or flowers to be preserv-
ed should be placed. If the specimens
are small, a number may be laid on one
sheet. Then lay another loose sheet
directly on the specimens, and on this
another drier, continuing in this man-
ner until one-half the driers are used,
and then apply the pressure. The ob-
ject of all this is to have the paper ab-
sorb the moisture in the leaves as quick-
ly as possible. After six or ten hours

the press should be opened and the
specimens taken out and placed be-
tween the driers which have not been
used. The single sheet next to the
specimens above and below may, for
convenience in handling, remain in the
new making up of a form for pressing,
especially if the specimens be small and
consequently difficult to handle individ-
ually in their partially dried condition.
The driers taken out will be found quite
damp, and should be hung up to be-
come thoroughly dried for use again.
After the specimens have been pressed
for twelve hours the second time, then
they should again be taken out and
placed between the first driers, which
ought to be dry by this time. After
one, two, or three more pressures, al-
ways substituting the newly dried driers
for the damp ones taken out at each
change, the specimens will be found
sufficiently dry. Then they can be fix-
ed in the Herbarium with the aid of a
little glue or mucilage.

PBOTECTION OF STREET TREES.

Of the thousands of trees which are
annually planted in our streets and
highways, very few ever grow to be of
any value or ornament. The trees are
planted, and then, instead of being
cared for as they should be, they are
left entirely without protection, and are
at the mercy of every stray cow or horse
that chances to rub itself against them;
and, in nine cases out of ten, the trees
are either entirely killed before the
end, of the first season ; or are so barked
and twisted as to make them an eye-
sore to the beholder. It would take
but very little time to remedy all this,
and place the trees in a condition which
would not leave them liable to receive
damage from stray cattle. When the
trees are planted they should, by all

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

117

means, have some adequate protection
given them. It matters little how this
is done, so long as it is done. If the
trees are within a foot or two of a fence,
a single stake may be driven on the
side of the tree opposite the fence, and
pieces of wood nailed to this and to the
fence, in such a manner as to enclose a
triangular space for the tree. The
stake should be, at least, three inches
thick and should reach six feet above
the ground. The strips which are nail-
ed to it and to the fence, should be
about two feet apart, and may be three
inches wide, and one inch thick. If the
trees are not situated so that this may
be done, either three or four stakes
may be set around the tree, a foot or
more from it, and these connected by
strips, as stated before. This will make
a strong protection; but not an orna-
mental one. "Where the trees occupy a
prominent position, something more or-
namental should be used. The frame
described above may be made of oak,
smoothed and painted; or, as is often
done, the whole protector may be made
of boards standing on end, and nailed
together at the corners so as to form a
square about the tree. These boards
may be planed and painted, and should
be plentifully bored with holes to ad-
mit a free circulation of air about the
trunk of the tree. Various designs will
suggest themselves for arranging these
holes in pleasing groups and forms.
It is much better to have these protect-
ors ready before the trees are planted;
and during the leisure days of win-
ter is an excellent time to prepare
them for spring use.

FEUITS EAISED NEAE SYDNEY, N. S. W.

During a period of little more than
two months is the season of Strawber-
ries, Cherries, Loquots, red and yellow

American Plums (wild), Raspberries,
Mulberries, "Whortleberries or Huckle-
berries, Gooseberries (black, green,
yellow, and white), Apricots, Gage,
Damson, and other Plums, Pears, Ap-
ples, Peaches, Grapes, Figs, Nectar-
ines, Passion Fruit, Bananas, Musk and
Water-melons, Pineapples, Cocoanuts,
Lemons, and Oranges, which last are
found in the greatest abundance, and
are the finest and sweetest I have found
anywhere. The Mandarin (Chinese)
Oranges — flat at the end, and of medi-
um size — are very sweet, though not so
juicy, and open very nicely by a little
pressure with the two thumbs; the di-
visions separate, and may be thus eaten
without the use of a knife, or wetting
the fingers. The Orange, in fact, is
the great staple fruit here, and it grows
luxuriantly within six miles of Sydney.
It is also cheap in its season, and with-
in the means of all. All these fruits
mentioned grow in the colony of New
South Wales; but I have found no
country yet that in every respect is
equal to California in the fruit and veg-
etable kingdom. The vegetable maiket
here can not be favorably compared to
California. I think, and I have heard
it said, that the people are too lazy
here to cultivate them well. Besides
the country will not grow them so fine-
ly.— William Hoffman in "Jottings dur-
ing a Trip round the Globe."

NEW PLANTS.

From the Gardener's Monthly :
Violet Victokia Regixa. — Becently
we received some fresh flowers of this
beautiful new Violet from Mr. Henry
Chitty of the Bellevue Nursery.

New Variegated Fern — Diclyogram-
ma Japonica. — Variegated Ferns are
very rare. Mr. Williams of England
has introduced this. The yellowish

118

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

green variegation is " herring boned "
along the centre of each leaflet, as in
some of the Marantas. There is a wood
cut of it in the January Florist and
Pomologist. It is a hardy greenhouse
kind.

Dahlia Maximilliana. This is a new
species from Mexico, with flower of a
peach-blossom color, seeds of which are
being offered by American seedsmen.
It may be the parent of a new race.

Zonale Pelargonium, Distinction. —
Mr.' Chitty says this is a very interest-
ing variegated leaved novelty. The
leaves are dark green, having a narrow
band of jet black near the margin.

Clematis ligusticifolia. — This is a
remarkably strong and vigorous grow-
ing, hardy Clematis — a neighbor to
the well known G. Virginiana of the
Eastern States, and will at least be as
popular. We note that it is now being
offered in several of our seedsmen's cat-
alogues. It grows from Colorado west-
ward. A good thing for covering walls
of houses or outbuildings.

Alocasia odorata. — The common Cal-
adium esculentum is well known. Some
years ago we noted a fine plant in the
garden of Mr. Mitchell, of Milwaukee,
as stated in our columns at the time.
Since then we have noted it of immense
size in Southern gardens, for which it
is a very striking object. Mr. Hanford
thus speaks of it :

" This noble plant while young,
slightly resembles the well known Cal-
adium esculentum, but grows to really
gigantic dimensions as it attains age,
and while the latter dies down annual-
ly to the bulb, this grows into a stem
or trunk, which retains some of the fol-
iage through the winter, if kept in the
conservatory or sitting room. The
leaves are of enormous size, of a bright
glossy green, pith thick, fleshy mid.ribs
and nerves, standing stiff and upright

on a stout stem. Plants under good
culture frequently attain eight and
twelve feet in height. A remarkable
plant and well worthy of a place in ev-
ery collection of plants,, for garden,
conservatory, or sitting room decora-
tion." *

From the London Garden :

Abies aloquiana. — This Japanese spe-
cies proves as hardy in our country as
the Norway Spruce. The under sur-
face is as silvery as the Menzies Spruce,
while the upper surface is of a deep
green. A correspondent of the Garden
regards it as the handsomest of the
Spruces.

Improved Petunias. — The Petunia
thrives better in' our climate than in
that of the old world. Hender's Strain
forms the subject of a beautiful illus-
tration in the Florist and Pomologist of
London, and are much like those we
have seen of Vick, and others of our
leading seedsmen.

Xanthoceras sorbifolia. — We have
from time to time had notices of this
new tree. A recent number of the Gar-
den gives a colored illustration, and
shows it to be more beautiful than one
would suppose from the description.
The flowers are as large as an Apple-
blossom, white on the upper portion of
the petals, but of a purplish crimson at
the base, and they are borne in upright
clusters like those of the Horse-chest-
nut. The leaves are like the Mountain
Ash, whence its specific name sorbifolia.
As it grows in its native wilds in China,
together with the Kolreuteria, which is
one of our hardiest trees, we may look
on this as something well worthy of in-
troduction into our own country.

Pentstemon Palmeri, Gray. — This
handsome Utah species is of robust
habit, attaining, in good soil, a height
of from three to five feet. The lower
leaves are petioled, varying in form

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

119

from ovate - lanceolate to spathulate,
coarsely and sharply toothed; those of
the stem broadly ovate, entire, and
semi-amplexicaul, or sometimes even
connate, all being of a fleshy texture,
and, like the whole plant, smooth and
gluacescent. The flowers are borne in
a many-flowered nakqil panicle, from
eighteen inches to two feet long; the
corolla, which is Peach-colored, being
remarkable for its short inflated tube
and gaping mouth, as well as for the
long reflexed lobes of the lower lip,
each mai'ked by a central reddish line,
and the conspicuous projecting yellow-
bearded sterile filament. It is quite
hardy, and will succeed in almost any
well-drained soil.

Brodi^i volitbilis, Baker (Stropholirion
Californicum, Torrey). — This Calif orni-
an species is remarkable for its twining
habit, the flower-scape often reaching
the height of seven or eight feet, or
even more. The flowers are produced
in terminal umbels of from fifteen to
thirty each, the perianth being of a
light rosy-purple color, nearly one inch
long, of a tubular ventricose form, con-
tracted below the mouth. The foliage
is linear, somewhat fleshy in character,
and from twelve to eighteen inches in
length. It is perfectly hardy, and of
the easiest cultivation in any soil, but
will probably succeed best in sandy
loam. Seedlings will bloom the third
year of their growth.

THE PHYLLOXERA.

"We have written nothing about this
insect before for the very reason that
we knew very little about it. We were
aware of the destruction it had caused
to grapevines in Europe, and also that
its appearance in California had filled
viticulturists with much alarm, and
that speculation is rife as to the possi-

bilities of its ravages and the methods
for exterminating the pest, preventing
its spread, etc. We have carefully read
everything we could find bearing upon
the question.

It seems that these minute insects in-
fest the roots of the grape plant, some-
thing as do the woolly aphis the roots
of Apple-trees, only the phylloxera
covers the entire bark of the roots as
a scale, even to the far-reaching and
smallest fibrous roots. This insect in-
jures the vine by feeding upon the jui-
ces of the plant which it sucks through
the bark. Hence the roots covered
with the tenderest bark are preferred
by them, and it is impossible to destroy
them by the application of any poison
that does not reach to the very ends of
the roots. This being the case, and it
being impracticable to so apply poi-
sons, all efforts to destroy them by poi-
soning have failed. Immense sums of
money have been offered for the discov-
ery of some potent remedy, but with-
out the desired result. However, it has
been found that the pest can be drown-
ed by flooding the vineyards for several
weeks at a time with water. This pro-
cess is not injurious to the vines if ap-
plied any time during the winter
months when the vines are not in leaf.
This remedy is probably the only effect-
ual one, and is good enough where wa-
ter can be so used. Yines growing upon
hillsides of course can not be so flooded,
unless it be found that ditches filled
with water between the rows and about
the vines will answer the same purpose.

It appears that the phylloxera works
worse ravages in dry soils than in wet,
so that in California it will, unless
checked in some way, prove very de-
structive on all soils that are not occa-
sionally flooded. Persons who contem-
plate planting vineyards should bear in
mind the necessity of selecting ground

120

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

that can be flooded, or of bringing wa-
ter upon it for that purpose.

It is said that the phylloxera is indig-
enous to the United States, and has
been known upon the native grape-
Tines in the East for many years, and
that the insect is not destructive to the
native varieties. Grapes that grow
along streams and the banks of ponds,
where the roots are below the water
level, are not troubled with the pest.
It is in such places that wild grapes
grow in the greatest profusion. The
following, from the Ohio Farmer, is a
summing up of about all that is of prac-
tical utility as far as is at present
known:

Our French correspondent, in his
last letter, thus speaks of the phyllox-
era, its ravages, and the remedy pro-
posed: The importance of the vine-bug
or phylloxera question to France may be
estimated by the fact that the insect,
which covers the roots like a bark, has
already destroyed nearly half a million
acres of vineyard, and threatens with
ruin two millions of acres more. Since
three years a government commission
has been occupied at Montpelier in ex-
perimenting with all suggested remedies
on an affected vineyard several acres in
extent. It may be safely said that the
commission, composed of practical and
scientific men, has discovered no cure.
It has, however, demonstrated the hap-
py action of manures in prolonging the
life of the vine, although without pre-
serving it. The submersion of the
vines, for thirty days at least, with run-
ning water in autumn or winter, and
the subsequent application of fertilizers
— known as the Falcon plan — is the
sole efficacious remedy up to the pres-
ent demonstrated, and so highly is it
appreciated that a project is on foot to
construct a canal, to be fed from the
Rhone, so as to enable several million

acres of vineyards to be temporarily in-
undated. A special commissioner has
left for the United States to study a va-
riety of American vine stocks, known in
Pennsylvania as the " corn grape," and
reported capable of resisting the phyl-
loxera.— California Agriculturist.

Trenching among Trees. — Trenching
is still practiced in England, but in this
country it has gone mostly out of fash-
ion. The subsoil plow pulverizes the
soil so much more cheaply than can be
done by hand that it will always retain
the preference where labor is as dear as
here. Trenching, however, admits the
manuring of the subsoil, which subsoil
plowing can not well do. Trenching
orchard ground is found particularly
beneficial where manure is digged* in
about the roots. Mr. Dancer, of Chis-
wick, England, practices trenching in
orchards extensively, and gains crops of
fine fruits. Fresh-feeding rootlets start
from the old roots where cut off, and,
finding well manured soil, supply the
tree with abundance of food. It is al-
ways important, where roots of trees
are to be pruned, that it be done while
there is least activity — in spring, before
buds swell, or in fall after the leaves
have fallen. Orchards plowed in mid-
summer receive a severe check, which
the roots do not easily recover from,
while in early spring plowing may be
done without injury, and, if the soil is
sufficiently rich, with positive benefit
to the tree. It is better not to plow
fresh manure under in immediate con-
tact with the roots. Its fermentation
might cause fungus and disease to at-
tack the tree. The better plan is to
spread manure on the surface in fall or
winter, and let snows and rains carry its
fertilizing properties downward. — Ru-
ral New Yorker.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

121

VINEYARDS IN CALIFORNIA.

Grape growing in this State can be
made a very profitable business, not-
withstanding the fact that the so-called
"wine-growers" have not made money,
and many of them have been obliged to
give up everything, after some years of
hard work, to foreclosers of mortgages
on the property. Raisin and table
grapes have paid well right along; and
as the State increases in population and
transportation facilities increase, so will
the business of shipping fine grapes
and making raisins become more and
more important and surely remunera-
tive.

"We advise the planting of new vine-
yards of best varieties, and the grafting
of the "wine" varieties to table and
raisin grapes, instead of tearing up the
old vines as some are doing. There is
policy in the matter of grafting, as the
well established roots will soon make
new vines that will bear abundantly of
superior fruit. A grape vine produces
better fruit after it is a dozen or more
years old than when it is younger. The
old vines, if cut back and grafted, will,
the second or third year after, produce
as well as old vines. The maturity and
strength imparted to the new top by the
well grown roots make grafted vines
equal in -value to vines of same age as
the roots. There is only one difficulty
about grafted grapes, and that is the li-
ability of the old stalk that is grafted
to send out suckers. If grafted above
ground there will be a good deal of
trouble to keep those sprouts below the
graft from outgrowing the scions. To
obviate this, the old vine should be cut
off from four to six inches below the
surface. Remove the earth from about
the vine with a spade and saw the old
stalk off as smoothly as possible with a
small, fine, hand-saw. The root stumps

Vol. VI.— 9.

may be split grafted or splice grafted
— it makes little difference, so long as
the inner bark of the scion and the
•stump come together to form a union of
growth. If the scion is set into the
stump so as to touch the vital sap in
only two or three places, it is enough to
give circulation to the living juices in
both stalk and scion. The stronger the
cuttings are that are used for scions the
better. Slender, weak cuttings are not
good for scions. Choose them from the
strongest growth of last year's wood.
Make the split or cut in the stalk, then
wedge the scion to fit and insert it firm-
ly, without bruising the bark on either
scion or stalk. One or two buds above
ground are enough, and the scions
should be shortened so as to admit of
not over two buds above ground. Com-
mon grafting wax can be used. It is
best applied warm with a brush. A
vessel holding the wax can be kept over
a portable coal stove such as tinkers use.
Any one can make one that will answer
the purpose out of a joint of stove-pipe.
Some persons press the fine earth firm-
ly about the graft and use no wax, and
with very good success. The best time
to graft grapevines is just as soon as the
new leaves get to be about the size of
your thumb-nail. Then the vines will
not bleed. If grafted before the leaves
start the old roots will bleed badly.
About the first of April is a good time
to graft in many localities. The vines
may be grafted earlier, but experience
has proved that it is better to graft af-
ter the bleeding season has passed. The
cuttings should be prepared as soon as
convenient, and put in a cool shady
place out of the wind until time for
grafting.

We hope that none of our readers
who may have inferior vines will neglect
to graft them this season. It will pay
to do it. We are willing to admit that

122

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUBIST.

the wine business is the poorest paying
as well as the most demoralizing busi-
ness that a poor honest man can ven-
ture into. But a good vineyard of use-,
ful grapes/ for raisins and for the table,
is at once respectable and remunerative.
The White Muscat of Alexandria is the
best raisin grape, though there are oth-
er good ones. The White Corinth or
Zante Currant grape is bound to prove
very valuable also upon this coast. The
business of shipping fine grapes to the
Atlantic States will always be a remu-
nerative one. The Flame Tokay, Hose
Peru, Black Hamburg and others are
good for shipping.

Planting a vineyard in this State is
not necessarily a very expensive job. It
is not necessary to cultivate the ground
any deeper than for a crop of grain.
The rows should be laid off six to eight
feet apart both ways, and may be struck
out, after measuring accurately, with a
plow in complete squares, by running
straight furrows at right angles. Then
in the ditch where the furrows cross
plant the cuttings. A long -handled
spade, run down the length of the blade,
at an angle of forty degrees, will be
deep enough to plant the cuttings. Be-
move the soil enough to insert the cut-
ting and then pack the dirt back closely
about it, and it is done. One or two
buds above ground are enough. Two
men can plant several thousand cuttings
in a day when everything is ready. The
after cultivation should be with harrow
and cultivator and hoe, so as to leave
the surface soil light and fine and free
from all weeds, for the first two years
particularly.

This is a very favorable season for
planting cuttings, because the soil is so
thoroughly filled with moisture, and
March and April are good months to
them. If you have to plow under a lit-
tle patch of green grain to make a vine-

yard, it will not hurt anything but leave
the soil in good condition. Every farm-
er on dry land should plant a vineyard
for family use, for raisins, and for an
investment to pay dividends as a branch
of farming. — California Agriculturist .

THE ATMOSPHERE AS A FERTILIZER.

" The Atmosphere as a Fertilizer" is
thus discussed by the Canada Farmer.
One of the great advantages of the fall
plowing is, that the soil is put in con-
dition to receive benefits from the air,
heat, cold, rain, and snow:

" This is a subject which, practically,
receives but about half the attention it
merits. Substantial manures, when ob-
tainable, are of course the great desi-
deratum, and no soil, however fertile,
can long sustain nutrition without them.
But in many instances these are not
readily attainable, at least in apprecia-
bly large quantities, and it is well to
know in such cases how best to adapt
our soil for the absorption of those in-
exhaustible fertilizers which are chemi-
cally combined in the air around us.
The composition of the atmosphere is
so well-known that it need not here be
repeated. It is, however, worthy of
note, as illustrative of the wonderful
resource of the air, that a young sapling,
planted in earth that had been oven-
dried, and receiving no other nourish-
ment thereafter than that derived from
the air, and an occasional watering,
more than quadrupled its weight in a
twelvemonth; while the earth in which
it grew, having been again dried and
weighed, showed a loss of only two
pounds — a fact which proves that we
are indebted almost solely to the at-
mosphere even for the solidity of our
trees. The same truth on a smaller
scale, as well as on the large, is being
illustrated every day and all around us,

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

123

but the principle could be much more
effectively utilized in agriculture than it
is, and that simply by a more thorough
pulverization of the soil. The decom-
position of both animal and vegetable
matter keeps constantly filling the air
with fertilizing gases, and perfect till-
age is the first step necessary to con-
dense these in the pores of the soil. It
follows, moreover, that if air is such an
essential source of vegetable nourish-
ment, the more of it supplied the bet-
ter; and so it is, provided only it be
supplied through the proper channel,
viz. : the soil. The nature of soil, too,
must here be taken into account, for
some kinds are much more easily per-
meated than others. For instance, in
testing with water, one hundred pounds
of pure clay, dried, absorbed seventy
pounds of water before any came through
so as to drop. A similar weight of clay
loam took in fifty pounds ; English
chalk, forty -five pounds; loamy soil,
forty pounds; calcareous sand, twenty-
nine pounds; and dry quartz, twenty-
five pounds. The experiment illustrates
strikingly the degree of tillage or pul-
verization requisite in each case as com-
pared with the others. Carrying the
test still further, five hundred pounds
of good fertile soil taken from various
parts of the world, and made perfectly
dry, gained nine pounds in weight in
the course of an hour by simple absorp-
tion from the atmosphere, and this gain
varied with different qualities of earth
in proportion as they were more or less
productive. The lesson to be derived
is obvious — always bearing in mind
that soil is best fitted for the simul-
taneous action of air and water, which
will retain about forty per cent, of the
latter."

THE FLOWER GARDEN.

Carbolic soap and water are said to
destroy mildew on Roses.

It should be now ascertained what
we want for every flower-bed about the
place — how many plants and what
kinds; when annuals, or such as have
to be raised from cuttings. Knowing
what we need, next see how many we
have, and if deficient in any, get up
what is wanted. We have often asked
gardeners, in the spring, about how
many plants they required for bedding
purposes, and have been told they " did
not know;" and still they would be pro-
pagating great quantities of different
things. This looks to us like groping
in the dark, and is the reason why so
often a good deal of bedding is seen
with very little effect. They have many
easily propagated plants, but few of
such things as are a little more difficult,
but which, if a few more had been
grown, would have imparted a greater
effect to the others. This preparation
before hand is also as necessary in get-
ting up plants for fall and winter deco-
ration of the green -house as for the
flower garden. Soft-wooded plants of
all kinds, such as Stevias, Salvias, Eu-
patoriums, Libonias, and such like, re-
quire to be propagated now. Hard-
wooded plants also require suitable
treatment to make them flower at par-
ticular times. Camellias, for instance,
if wanted to flower early, require to
have their wood early matured a year
previous, as forcing the buds open with
heat is never attended with much suc-
cess. Every gardener and amateur
should keep a diary, and note every-
thing which will prove of any service
in the future. The extreme cheapness
of most of the horticultural periodicals
nowadays gives us every facility for get-
ting the practice of others to assist us
with our own, therefore giving us a
chance for succeeding in every branch.

124

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

"What we do not know some others do;
what we have failed with, some one who
has succeeded tells us. The poorest
work on horticulture we have ever seen
told us something we did not know or
had forgotten.

TO GET EID OF HOUSEHOLD PESTS.

I have not seen a bedbug or flea in
my house for many years. If an army
of them were to be brought in, mercury
would speedily exterminate them; but
I think cleanliness the «best and perhaps
the only preventive. The common
house-fly I do not molest, believing
that it more than compensates for its
trouble by clearing the atmosphere of
effluvia and the animalcules which al-
ways arise from the putrefaction of de-
caying substances daring warm weather.

So also with the birds, which are
cpiite numerous here during the sum-
mer. Instead of shooting them or set-
ting up scarecrows to frighten them
away, I throw out every possible in-
ducement for them to build in my fruit
trees. The birds capture a large share
of the insects in the larva state, and
thus the millers are prevented from de-
positing eggs for future worms. As to
the loss of fruit by the birds, the latter
are always sure to be on hand in force
in the season of ripe fruit, whether they
come early to take the worms or not.

For the residue of insects that infest
my vegetable garden, I find that the
laboratory of the chemist furnishes ma-
terials fatal to them all, among which
white hellebore and cayenne pepper are
of the most utility. The bug or worm
which can not find vegetation unflavored
with these articles will seek its break-
fast elsewhere and leave a garden un-
molested.

A few drops of carbolic acid in a
pint of water will clean house plants

from lice in a very short time. If mos-
quitoes or other blood-suckers infest our
sleeping rooms at night, we uncork a
bottle of pennyroyal, and these insects
leave in great haste, nor will they re-
turn so long as the air in the room is
loaded with the fumes of that aromatic
herb. If rats enter the cellar; a little
powdered potash thrown into their holes,
or mixed with meal and scattered in
their runways, never fails to drive them
away.

Cayenne pepper will keep the buttery
and store-room free from ants and cock-
roaches. If a mouse makes an entrance
into any part of your dwellings, satu-
rate a rag with cayenne in solution and
stuff it into a hole, which can be repair-
ed with either wood or mortar. No rat
or mouse will eat that rag for the pur-
pose of opening communication with
the depot of supplies. — Scientific Amer-
ican.

THE FASHION IN FLOWERS.

Once more fashion in the matter of
flowers is somewhat opposed to Nature.
After having rivaled the splendor of
the parterre, the maker of artificial flow-
ers, thinking, doubtless, to improve on
simple imitation, and also perhaps the
better to harmonize his productions
with the glitter of gold and silver, so
much used, is now making leaves and
blossoms in a style that is too meretri-
cious to please true taste, savoring as it
does far too much of the theatrical.
Therefore we find not only velvet and
satin leaves and flowers to suit the cos-
tumes with which they are worn —
grasses, berries, and leaves of gold and
silver, and petals profusely powdered
with frost — but also leaver sparkling
with gold dust, and a metallic radiance
about the green more suitable to the
foliage of a transformation scene than

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

125

to the toilette of a modern Parisian.
The flowers made and sold in England
are often enough of tbis anti- natural
style, which was always much less com-
mon here. Some of them are pretty as
novelties that are not likely to be long
in fashion. The dark metallic green
foliage is used to relieve the brilliance
of the rest, but it is speckled with gold
nevertheless. Ribbon and lace are oft-
en mixed with flowers to be worn in
the hair, while the nosegay for the
front of the dress is tied together with
broad streamers. Bouquets of artificial
flowers, made up of sprays and branch-
es of different sorts, are prepared for
presents, and may be taken to pieces
afterward, and used to trim the dress or
decorate the hair. The prettiest gar-
lands for the apron and the most be-
coming wreaths are made of the Snow-
ball plant, with frosted leaves ; the
Oleander with foliage of velvet and
satin mixed, sprinkled with gold ; of
the mild Chestnut, of monthly Roses,
of Violets, and of white Catalpa blos-
soms with the seeds and pistils of
silver and the leaves powdered with
silver dust. Silver and gold Blackber-
ries and Ashberries are charming, mix-
ed with tinted leaves. Camellias are
very fashionable once more, and again
add their loveliness to the adornments
which crown the graceful heads of the
fairer portion of our social world. The
wreaths are made rather high, though
fitting closely to the head; they are
often composed of two sorts of flowers
and formed like two wreaths, one over
the other. A narrow fillet of Parma
Violets may be surmounted by white
Camellias, yellow Jasmine by Jardini-
ers, gold and silver Blackberries by
wild Roses, pink Heath by gilt Ferns
and grasses, the pale blossoms of the
Hydrangea by Damask Roses. — Ware-
housemen and Draper's Journal.

WOBDS.

The wind blew out of a cloud,

Which was folded like a shroud

Up in the chilly air,

And shook the woodlands bare.

The Thistle-down was white,

As though it had taken fright.

Up through the air it sped,

The ghost of a blossom dead —

Up like a white balloon,

Or miniature moon,

It sailed and sailed away,

To the distance dim and gray.

Its freight was a tiny seed;
Within its walls a weed
Was waiting for the sun and dew
And rain to let it through.
It could not always dwell
In such a narrow shell;
It fell to the ground at last,
And when the winter passed,
And the robin red-breast's glow
Melted the lingering snow,
An angry Thistle was found,
With its bayonet in the ground.

Our words are like the seeds
Which blossom in flowers or weeds;
We blow them from our lips,
They go to the mountain tips,
They go to the valleys low,
They melt not with the snow,
They are the tiny seeds,
Which bear the fruit of deeds.
Shall we sow Roses sweet,
And Lilies under our feet,
Or Thistle-down with a seed
That bears a noxious weed?

SUNNY BOOMS MAKE SUNNY LIYES.

Light is one of the most active agen-
cies in enlivening and beautifying a
home. "We all know the value of sun-
light as a health -giving agent to the
physical system; and it is not less so to
our moral and spiritual natures. "We
absorb light, and it nourishes us with
strange power. We are more active
under its influence — can think better
and work more vigorously.

Let us take the airiest, choicest and

126

THE CALIFOBNIA HOKTICULTUBIST.

sunniest room in the house for our liv-
ing room — the workshop where brain
and body are built up and renewed.
And let us there hare a bay window, no
matter how plain in structure, through
which the good twin -angels of nature
— sunlight and pure air — can freely en-
ter.

This window shall be the poem of the
house. It shall give freedom and scope
for eye and mind. We shall hang no
picture on our walls that can compare
with the living and everlasting pictures
which God shall paint for us through
our ample window. Bosy dawns, gold-
en-hearted sunsets, the tender green
and changing tints of spring, the glow
of summer, the pomp of autumn, the
white of winter, storm and shine, glim-
mer and gloom — all these we can have
and enjoy while we sit in our sheltered
room as the changing year rolls on.

Dark rooms bring depression of spir-
its, imparting a sense, of confinement,
of isolation, of powerlessness, which is
chilling to energy and vigor; but in
light is good cheer.

Even in a gloomy house, where walls
and furniture are dingy and brown, you
have but to take down the heavy cur-
tains, open wide the window, hang
brackets on either side, set flower -pots
on the brackets and ivies in the pots,
and let the warm sun stream freely in,
to bring health to our bodies and joy to
our souls.

Earth-worms. — An invention is ad-
vertised and commented upon in En-
gland for preventing worms from enter-
ing pots. It consists chiefly of a piece
of perforated metal placed over the
holes beneath the drainage material
used. We use hot water to kill earth-
worms— as hot as can be endured by
the hand. This kills them instantly,
and will not injure the plant roots.

<Mtt0ral WMUYw.

THE "BIG TEEES" (SEQUOIA GIGANTEA)

We present to our patrons for our
frontispiece, this month, a fine and
properly grown specimen of one of
these famous and remarkable trees.
Unlike the growth of this tree in its na-
tive or wild condition, the present illus-
tration is clad with its branches down
to and sweeping the ground. In the
virgin forests where this wonderful tree
flourishes, and sometimes attains in
height 400 feet and over, and 30 feet
round at its base, owing to the dense-
ness of vegetation there, as well as
the number of its own kind of all sizes,
its stem or trunk does not show any
branches nearer the ground than from
50 to 100 feet. In the East and in Cal-
ifornia this highly valued tree has now
been raised from the seed for about
fifteen or twenty years, and in many
parts of the States there are to be found
splendid specimens of it measuring near
the ground four or five feet in circum-
ference. We now have a few in this
city more than a foot in diameter. There
are several groves of these mammoth
trees in this State, the chief of which
are in Mariposa, Calaveras, Tuolumne,
and Tulare Counties. There are over
400 trees in each grove. With the ex-
ception, perhaps, of the Boabab tree
(Adansonia digitalis), these magnificent
trees of California are the most ancient
and grandest in the world, although
some species of the G-um in the forests
of Australia are said to excel them in
point of height These glorious trees
are cone-bearing evergreens belonging
to the botanical genus named Gupres-
sus (Cypress) by Linnaeus. After the
time of that naturalist, his genus of the
Cupressus was divided, so that the mam-
moth tree would come under the name
of the Taxodium, which, about the year

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

127

1850, was again divided by Endlicher,
the German botanist, and'the Redwood-
tree was declared to belong to a new
genus, called Sequoia. These trees first
came to the notice of the public in 1853,
and are related in the closest manner to
the Redwood, and are found only in
California on the western slope of the
Sierra Nevada ranges, between latitudes
31° and 41°. The cones are not much
larger than a hen's egg, whereas the
cones of many smaller conifers of the
coast are larger than Pineapples. The
seeds are not more than a quarter of an
inch long, a sixth wide, and almost as
thin as writing paper. The bark is red-
dish brown in color, of a coarse, dry,
stringy, elastic substance, and very thick;
on the largest trees not less than eight-
een inches. The wood is soft, elastic,
straight -grained, free splitting, light
when dry, and red in color. It bears a
close resemblance to Red Cedar, but
the grain is not quite so even. The
wood is very durable. The rings of one
of these trees have been counted, and
its age was variously estimated, accord-
ing to the different modes of counting,
at from nineteen hundred to three thou-
sand years, As John S. Hittell says, in
his excellent book, " The Resources of
Calif ornia:" "Probably its age was
about 2,000 years. It sprouted while
Rome was in its glory. It is older than
any kingdom, language, or creed of Eu-
rope or America. It was a large tree
before the foundation of the Christian
church, and was 150 years old before
the period of modern civilization be-
gan. Twenty centuries (using the lan-
guage somewhat of the great Napoleon
when he looked down from the Pyra-
mids of Egypt) look down upon the
tourist from the tops of the larger trees;
and some of the little ones will still
flourish for a thousand years from now,
when all our present kingdoms and re-

publics shall have disappeared, and our
political and social systems shall have
been swept away as full of evil, and re-
placed by other and better systems, un-
der which men will live in civilized so-
ciety without each being forced to rob
his brother by means more or less legal
and respectable."

PAINTING AND HORTICULTURE.

In addition to the fine and interest-
ing galleries and stores, containing pic-
tures, of Richard Roos & Co., Morris,
Schwab & Co., A. Winter, and others,
the former of which are so liberally
provided, and opened gratis to the pub-
lic, we take pleasure in pointing out to
the favor and notice of our citizens the
establishment of M. D. Nile, 223 and
225 Kearny Street. This establishment
has been a leading one in art from a
comparatively early date, and many
beautiful, artistic, and valuable produc-
tions of our first-rate painters have
been and still are presented to the ad-
miration of the passing multitude, and
to those who take time to enter and ex-
amine the pleasant gallery of generally
choice pictures which it holds for exhi-
bition. It is true that the great mass
of the people, the underbred, the un-
cultivated, those that are unfortunately
gross in ignorance, are slow to under-
stand and appreciate such noble and
beautiful works of pictorial art as are
placed before them for their gaze in
these depots of painting, whether in
oil, water colors, or engravings, but, in
the course of time, the impressions pro-
duced in their minds and feelings by
these attractive objects must be favora-
ble and improving for them. Now this
will surely take place in a greater or
less degree, even with those who may
be said to possess no organization for
art, and even they must be directly or

128

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

indirectly benefited by this school of it
especially. Henry Ward Beecher says,
in one of his sermons, " A gardener re-
ceives from a botanical traveler, for the
first time, in a little pot, a slip of
Spruce or Fern; and one looking at it,
says, ' What did you give for that little
thing?' 'Twenty-five dollars, sir/ is
the reply. ' What under the sun made
you give twenty-five dollars for that lit-
tle slip of evergreen in a two-inch pot?'
' Well, it is the Sequoia gigantea. There
are trees of that name in California.
They are enormous trees that shoot up
300 or 400 feet into the air. This is the
beginning of another. It is not very
big now, but give it root-room and in
time it will be as big as the others."
Thus it is with the uninformed and dis-
advantaged masses. These efforts, and
mostly excellent works of the pictorial
craft, so conveniently, liberally, profuse-
ly, and cheaply placed before their vis-
ion in the store windows and galleries,
will gradually and surely educate them
to a certain amount of spirituality, re-
finement, and benefit to their moral na-
ture. These lower and grosser classes
are not to be estimated as valuable for
what they now show themselves to be,
but for the capacity they have in them,
when they have some chance of eleva-
tion, by beauty, loveliness, truth and
virtue being paraded before them, even
in store windows. Those who labor or
take delight in matters of the fine arts,
such as music, painting, sculpture, and
such like; and may we not say, also,
those who are forwarding the theory
and practice of horticulture, in works
calculated to advance the cultivation of
flowers, fruit, etc. ; are they not all con-
ferring benefits on the community, in
promoting refinement, polish, more of
purity, intellectual, and moral advance-
ment, rather than the encouragement of
the grosser and less moral qualities of

our nature? Mr. Nile will always be
found ready to impart any information
about the pictures in his gallery, etc.,
to his visitors, with pleasant' attention
and politeness.

A MANUAL ON THE CULTUKE OF SMALL
FKUITS.

Strawberries, Raspberries, Currants,
Gooseberries, Blackberries, etc. How
to raise and market them. Mailed on
the receipt of price, 50 cents. By E.
P. Roe.

Although our climate in California is
different from that of the East, still the
general principles of culture are the
same, and many of the sorts of small
fruits recommended are suitable for us,
and, indeed, we are cultivating some of
them quite successfully. We might
well test a few of those which we have
not yet here, and especially some of
the newest and best. This is a neat>
well written work, and the print is plain
and large. It treats on different soils
and their best fertilizers, when to plant,
how to obtain plants, what kinds to
plant, how to plant, modes of culture,
raising new varieties, different varieties
described, propagation, culture for
fruit, field culture, enemies, Roe's
Seedling Gooseberry, packing plants,
and profits of small fruit culture, etc.
We think that many points contained in
this practical and instructive manual
will be worthy of the attention of our
California cultivators.

DEPOT OF WILLIAM ROBERTSON, 106
CALIFORNIA MARKET.

This experienced and accommodat-
ing nurseryman and florist is well ac-
quainted with the requirements of the
public in his fascinating and now hap-
pily much extending line of business

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

129

here. At his stand may always be
found a large and excellent -variety of
shrubs, plants, flowers, etc., well grown
by himself at his nursery, west side
Folsoin Street, between Nineteenth and
Twentieth. There can also be found
there graceful and elegant bouquets,
wreaths,, crosses, and flower baskets.
Mr. Robertson is likewise agent for the
well known and extensive nursery and
floral establishment of F. Liidemann,
proprietor of the Pacific Nurseries,
Baker Street, between Lombard and
Chestnut, near Presidio, S. F.

CATALOGUES EECEIVED.

"Vick'sFloralGuide,No.2,forl876,"
Rochester, N. T. Work in the fields
and gardens has been delayed longer
here than usual this spring, on account
of heavy rains, and, for this climate, se-
vere frosts, which last have injured, if
not destroyed, many tender flowers that
have generally stood well our winters
out of doors. The Rose Geraniums
and Heliotropes have especially suffer-
ed. They, with some other exotics,
have been sadly nipped, but then they
can be easily replaced without any
great cost. The above excellent Guide
has reached us very aptly before much
of our planting season has expired, and
the information it contains will be
available to many who are so fortunate
as to obtain it, by applying for it. It
treats on " Pleasant Homes," " Useful
Facts and Pleasant Gossip," " True
Love of Flowers," " The Dahlia," and
many other useful and interesting flo-
al and vegetable topics.

In addition to the above, Mr. Vick
publishes a " Priced Catalogue " con-
taining a full list of flowers and vegeta-
bles, with brief descriptions, with pri-
ces attached, and descriptions of all
the new flowers and vegetables, which

he sends free to all who desire it. His
Pansies are very fine and varied, but
the most superb and valuable of all, we
consider, to be the Emperor William.
It is very hardy, a constant bloomer,
very distinct, and of the most lovely
blue, with a gold centre. We strongly
recommend this beautiful sort to all.
It may be procured at nearly every pro-
fessional florist's establishment, both
East and West.

" Descriptive Catalogue of Fruits,
Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, Bulbs, etc.,
1876-77, No. 1," of Storrs, Harrison &
Co.'s, Painesville, Ohio. This list is as
full and complete as desirable for cul-
tivators. It is illustrated by many
fruits, flowers, evergreens, and orna-
mental trees, such as the Verseillaise
Currant, Downing's Seedling Goose-
berry, Mammoth Cluster Raspberry,
Cut-leaved Weeping Birch, Kilmarnock
Weeping Willow, Tom Thumb Arbor-
vite, Oak-leaved Mountain Ash, Gem
of the Prairies Rose, and Marechal
Neil, etc.

" Catalogue of Bryant's Nurseries,"
Princeton, 111., 1875-6. Mr. Bryant is
the author of " Forest Trees," a good
practical work on tree culture, with
twelve full page engravings.

" J. M. Thorburn & Co.'s Annual
Descriptive Catalogue of Vegetable and
Agricultural Seeds for 1876." One of
the largest collections to be found in
the world, with many tested novelties,
both of domestic and foreign origin.
John St., N. Y. Also "Catalogue of
Flower Seeds."

" Root's Garden Manual and Seed
Catalogue for 1876," Rockford, 111.,
with many excellent directions as to
soil, manures, preparation of ground,
seeds and sowing, cultivation, thinning,
harvesting, storage and sales, hot beds,
garden pests, kitchen garden, garden
implements, etc.

130

THE CALIFORNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

"Catalogue for 1876, No. 4, of
Hoopes Brother & Thomas," Cherry
Hill Nurseries, West Chester, Pa., of
Greenhouse and Bedding Plants, with
rare Conifers, embracing descriptions
of the most popular plants grown under
glass, for various purposes; to which is
added novelties for 1876, with cuts.
All the above firms, connected with
these catalogues, are highly respectable
and thoroughly responsible, and we
have no hesitation in guaranteeing the
fulfillment of any representations made
by them. With the above recommend-
ation also we add the " Plant Cata-
logue" of F. K. Phoenix, of Bloom-
ington, McLean County, 111., including
Plant Novelties, Greenhouse and Bed-
ding Plants in eight classes, each ar-
ranged alphabetically.

1. New Plants.

2. Hot-house Plants and Bedders.

3. Greenhouse and Bedding Plants.

4. Leading Plants with Lists.

5. Vase and Basket Plants.

6. Hardy Herbaceous Plants.

7. Fruit and Vegetable Plants.

8. Summer Flowering Bulbs.

One of the most striking, brilliant,
and beautiful flowers to be found in
most of the collections both in the East
and in California is the splendid Trito-
ma superba.

" Specialties for the Spring Trade of
1876." The Brighton Grape, a new
seedling, the finest early Grape, also
new Roses, Gooseberries, and Peaches,
by H. E. Hooker & Brother, Hooker
Nurseries, Rochester, N. Y. The
Brighton Grape is a cross between the
Concord and Diana Hamburg. Hook-
er & Brother claim for this Grape, first,
excellence of quality; second, vigor and
hardiness of vine; third, early ripening;
fourth, beauty and size of fruit; fifth,
beauty of vine and foliage; sixth, na-
tivity in this country. This firm also

bring into notice the New American
Seedling Gooseberry, the ' ' Downing."
The fruit is large, two or three times
the size of the old Houghton, color pale
green, or whitish green, a great bearer,
and of excellent quality for cooking and
table uses. It is very productive, and
it will make a most profitable market
sort. It should be grown in rather a
cool situation, and should have moder-
ate pruning out of the weaker branches.
It appears to us that we need a good
healthy Gooseberry here, and a larger
one than the Houghton, and one that
is not subject to the mildew, like the
English kinds. There is also another
recommended by this firm, namely,
" Smith's Improved." It is large, ear-
ly, good in flavor, and very productive.
Mr. Hooker presents us with two hand-
some engravings and likenesses of the
above notable fruits. Our fruit culti-
vators should procure them for trial on
this coast. The Roses are some of the
newest and the best.

FRUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

Knight, Van Mons, Rivers, and oth-
ers, devoted the greater portion of their
lives to the improvement of fruits.
These benefactors operated in old coun-
tries, which possessed many fruits
grown in many situations, and much
under glass, and to a very considerable
degree of perfection. If these eminent
men and pomologists devoted their
money and means to such good purpose
in old countries, where all kinds of fruits
are raised in great perfection, how much
more meritorious and desirable is it for
similar persevering, talented, and scien-
tific fruit raisers here to adapt to their
new homes all those fruits, both old and

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

131

new seedlings, which can be successful-
ly naturalized. The improvement and
naturalization of fruit by means of seed,
while it affords the only true mode of
"acclimatization," is looked upon with
distrust and aversion by the ignorant
and unthinking. The fact that the
whole of the countless varieties of de-
licious Apples and Grapes, and the lus-
cious Pears, Peaches, Apricots, and
Nectarines, we now possess, have been
originated from seed at one time or oth-
er, is either forgotten or ignored. Let
any one interested in the subject inquire
into the origin of many of our most val-
ued old fruits, and they will find that
they sprung from some chance seedling
growing in some wild or other similar
place, which had been rescued from ob-
scurity and named by some observant
person, and had thenceforth been in-
creased by budding and grafting, and
had been distributed throughout the
civilized world.

The danger to be apprehended from
the general practice of raising fruit trees
from seed, is that the gardens will be
filled with worthless sorts; but, as the
operationsof budding and grafting are
simple, it appears to us that the evil
would not be so very great, but that
the young trees of inferior quality would
be cut down and worked from others of
approved excellence.

In no country in the world, probably,
has the practice of raising fruit trees
from seed been more generally adopted
than in the United States, and nowhere
else has it resulted in more triumphant
success. The fame of the Newtown
Pippin, New York Pippin, and other
Apples is world-wide; we also excel in
nearly all other fruits. Almost every
State possesses special sorts adapted to
its peculiar soil and climate, raised on
the spot from seed, and which are, when
sufficiently tested, increased by budding

and grafting. The circumstances at-
tending the settlement of all new coun-
tries are so far similar, that we may with
confidence in California follow an ex-
ample which has been productive of
such important and beneficial results,
and endeavor to secure a greater num-
ber of choice seedling fruits than we
now possess, which being natives of the
climate would be specially suited to our
wants.

Among the objects which may be ac-
complished by raising fruit - bearing
plants from seed, some one or more of
which should be kept steadfastly
throughout the pursuit, and the rules
which should guide those engaged in it,
we quote the following excellent re-
marks from the Qiteenslander, published
at Brisbane, Australia, and which are
pertinent to our present purpose :

1st. To naturalize any desirable fruit,
rendering it productivein districts where
from climatic causes it would not bear
originally. This is being done notably
with the Peach in the Brisbane district,
where, within our recollection, there
was only one sort which would bear,
and now there are probably fifty distinct
sorts, many of them of great excellence,
the majority of which are seedlings.

2d. To improve upon existing kinds
of fruit, in flavor, beauty, size, or hard-
iness.

3d. To originate varieties of existing
kinds of greater constitutional vigor
than their parent, and not subject to
mildew, curl, worms, American blight,
oidium, etc. It is well known that in
the same soil, and under the same treat-
ment, there are some sorts of Peaches
which are much more subject to mildew,
curl, and worms, than others; and that
the same may be said of the Apple with
reference to the American blight, and
the Grapevine with regard to the oidium.
It would, therefore, be an object wor-

132

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

thy of ambition, to raise seedling plants
free from these pests, possessing all the
good qualities of their parents which
are subject to them. Much has been
done in this direction in other countries,
but we will only instance the Early
York, a favorite Peach, very subject to
mildew, from which Mr. Rivers has
raised a seedling perfectly identical with
the parent, except that the growth is
more vigorous, and it is proof against
mildew.

4th. To extend the season of ripen-
ing, by originating earlier and later
sorts.

5th. To determinately root out all
seedlings which, on fruiting, do not
prove to possess some desirable quality
not belonging to some existing sort in
relation to the district in which it is
raised.

6th. To communicate the particulars
of every success to persons known to
take an interest in the pursuit, so as to
make sure that it is not overlooked, as
it may prove of public advantage.

We hope to see in California more
fruit cultivators paying attention to the
raising of seedling fruits, more likely
to agree with our soil and climate than
most of those which are of foreign ori-
gin, and whose characters in many re-
spects, but especially as to the time of
ripening, have been changed, by being
subject to the different conditions pecu-
liar to our Pacific Slope as compared to
the regions where they were originated .

To raise seedlings, we admit, requires
much time, patience, perseverance, en-
ergy, and some pecuniary expenditure,
and in, probably, 1,000 seeds planted
of any variety of fruit, most likely not
more than five or ten in that number,
when they produce specimens, will be
worthy of preservation and continuance;
and not more than one fruit in that
quantity of seedling trees or plants will,

probably, be first-rate in quality. Still,
if success is attained even against that
large proportion and such odds, it is a
triumph worth the labor and expense,
and is conferring a lasting benefit on
the community.

The severe winter here, with its heavy
rains and unusual frosts, has kept back
the Strawberry crop, and it will proba-
bly be quite late, as compared with for-
mer seasons, before we shall have any in
market. At the end of last year (1875)
they were unusually plentiful, cultiva-
tors having attended well to them and
their irrigation, so as to be very success-
ful in their last crops of this delicious
fruit. We have on record in the Hoeti-
cultueist that last year the first Straw-
berries reached us on the 11th March.
This year it will be most likely nearly
if not quite one month later before they
come in with reasonable prices, although
we may have a few at fancy prices about
the last of the month (March), or the
beginning of April. In consequence of
this almost blank time with regard to
fruits (the first advent of spring), Ap-
ples, Pears (what few there are), and
Oranges were about the last of March
in great and active demand, and brought
unusually high prices, and numbers of
them were shipped to the interior cities
and towns. The finest California Or-
anges brought on the 17 th March $1 25
per dozen. By the box, good and
choice Apples retailed at $2 50 to $3 50.
The Sandwich Islands Oranges have
failed much in their produce this year,
and, besides, the California fruit being
so greatly superior in quality, these Or-
anges from the Islands have but poor
chance for a good market here. These
Oranges are, compared with Southern
California, less sweet and rich, being
watery and nearly tasteless. We have
had very few of them in San Francisco
this year in comparison with other years.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

133

Asparagus toward the last of March
came forward still slowly, and brought
high prices. Green Peas became quite
plentiful and a further decline from the
beginning of the month took place.
The market was well supplied with Po-
tatoes, but prices were maintained. By
the single sack the best were not obtain-
able for less than $2 25 to $2 50 per
100 lbs.

Near the last of March the market
was but poorly supplied with fruit,
which is an uncommon thing for us at
any season of the year. People are be-
ginning to long for the advent of Straw-
berries, but none are expected before
the first week of April. Apples were
dear, and Oranges were steadily advanc-
ing, although they have been excessive-
ly high in price for several weeks. No
further advance, however, was consider-
ed likely to take place in Oranges, as
two car-loads of Mediterranean Oranges
were en route to this city overland.
They were from Sicily. This shipment
will be unprecedented in years, and it
will be due to the high prices of Los
Angeles Oranges now ruling. They
will come here from New York. The
first cargo of the new Tahiti crop was
expected early in April. This shipment
of Mediterranean Oranges will probably
be the first ever brought to this coast,
and would not have been ordered if the
Los Angeles crop had not been short,
and the Tahiti crop late, causing an ad-
vance in prices sufficient to meet the
heavy freight rates overland. The mar-
ket was well supplied with California
and Sicily Lemons, but the stock of
Limes was quite light. Apples by the
box retailed at $2 50 to |4. More Cu-
cumbers had come to hand during the
last week in March, but still brought
fancy prices. Green Peas and Aspara-
gus were more abundant and cheaper.
Prices of Potatoes were maintained, and

the best by the single sack commanded
$2 50 to $2 75 per 100 lbs. The for-
eign Oranges to arrive were Palermo
and Messina Oranges. These were to
come in refrigerator cars. The steamer
Orifiamme, from Portland, arrived with
1,897 boxes of Oregon Apples.

On the last day of March the first lot
of Strawberries reached our market.
Of course the price was of the fancy or-
der, and those who invested in them
had more regard to their novelty than
to their size or quality. Those we hap-
pened to see in a fruit store were quite
diminutive, and had a color between an
old red brick-bat and a piece of stone
coal. But we shall soon have better
specimens, and of larger size and im-
proved flavor, and with less acidity pre-
vailing in them. The whole receipts
up to the 2d of this month (April) did
not amount to more than twenty pounds.
Before this number of the Hoeticult-
ukist is issued there will be plenty.
Two cargoes of Tahiti Oranges, in all
455,000, the first of the new crop, ar-
rived on the 30th of last month (March).
They were unripe and sour, rather like
the Strawberries at that time, and did
not have much effect upon the sale of
California fruit. The same vessels
brought consignments of Limes and
Cocoanuts. Mediterranean Lemons
continued to arrive overland, and two
car-loads of Sicily Oranges were ex-
pected by the same route. The steam-
er Orizaba arrived with 546 boxes of
Los Angeles Oranges, which found a
ready sale. The last shipment (the
last of March) of Oregon Apples brought
exceedingly high prices, and by the
box a good to choice article now retails
at $3.50 to $4.50, while medium quali-
ties sold at $2.50 to $3. Pears were
very scarce. Hot-bed Cucumbers came
along regularly, but did not get below
50 cents a piece up to the end of March.

134

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Asparagus and Green Peas, especially
the first, were much more abundant and
cheaper. Potatoes were firm, and by
the single sack the best Petaluma
brought $2.50, and Nevada and Utah,
$2.75 per 100 lbs.

We note the arrival of Dried Peaches
from Salt Lake (skins on); price, 12^c.
Howe & Hall furnished the following:
Apples, $2 to $3 50 per box. Eastern
Cranberries, $13 to $14 per bbl. Or-
anges, Los Angeles, $20 to $75 per M.
Limes, $15 to $20 per M. Bananas,
$2 50 to $4 per bunch. Pine-apples,
$6 per dozen. Cocoanuts, $7 to $8
per 100. Dried Fruit — Apples, 10c.
per lb. ; Peaches, 11 to 12^c. ; Peeled,
18 to 20c; Pears, 10 to 12|c; Plums, 5
to 6c; do., pitted, 16 to 17c; Prunes,
12£to 17c; Apricots, 12|tol5c; Figs,
white, 12J to 15c; black do., 6 to 10c;
California Raisins, 6 to lie Vegeta-
bles—Cabbages, $1 25 to $1 50 per
ctl.; Cucumbers, $2 to $4 per doz.; As-
paragus, 10 to 15c per lb.; Marrowfat
Squash, $20 to $25 per ton; Rhubarb,
12Jc per lb.; Green Peas, 4J to 5c per
lb.; Garlic, 5c per lb.; new Potatoes,
6 to 8c. per lb.

(Mtortal (Stating.

Floweks at Funekals. — Somebody
has been showing that the expense of a
first-class funeral in New York is some-
thing over two thousand dollars, monu-
ment and all. Of this the cost of flow-
ers is set down at a hundred dollars.
Now, a hundred dollars spent in flow-
ers may be a piece of extravagance or
economy, as people choose to regard it.
But we venture to say that twenty-five
dollars judiciously expended will make,
we will not say a better display, but in
all respects a more beautiful and ap-
propriate token of esteem and affection.
Immense stacks of flowers are bad

enough in churches, but at a funeral
they are exceedingly out of taste.
What is wanted is some proper token
of affection on the one side, and on the
other some suggestive symbol of an un-
folding and beautiful hereafter. But
how stands the case when all taste and
simplicity, and especially when all true
suggestiveness, are sacrificed to an im-
mense show? Think of those hideous
crowns done up with Violets and Pinks
which it is safe to say no saint would
wear, to say nothing of mortals. And
think of flowers being packed together
like so many sardines ! — beautiful Pinks
and Lilies enough to occupy half the
room being gathered up in the compass
of a square foot. It is as if a milliner,
in order to make a big display on open-
ing day, should gather up in some huge
bee-hive 200 or 300 hats and feathers,
all crushed and crowded, in order to
suit her fancy. How would the ladies
like that as a specimen of taste? But
there would be much more taste in it
than there is to much of this mussing
and crushing of flowers by as much as
a hat is a less delicate and beautiful
object. If milliners could be paid for
such an abomination as we have spoken
of, they would probably be guilty of it.
And this is just the real trouble with
the florists; it is a question of sticking
in as many flowers as possible at so
much a piece. And the result is so
much ugliness, and a hundred dollars
to pay for it. — Church and State.

Vebbenas. — Fill shallow boxes (from
four to six inches deep) with light peaty
soil, first arranging drainage and holes
in the bottom; make the surface smooth
and moderately firm. Soak the seed
for several hours; sow thinly and cover
lightly with very fine sandy soil. Place
in a moderately warm place, shaded

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

135

from the sun, and kept constantly moist,
but not wet. When up, place in the
light, in an east window, shading from
direct sunshine, and water cautiously,
using a spoon and applying tepid water
around the plants, and upon the sur-
rounding soil. "When sufficiently strong
pot off singly into two inch pots (or lit-
tle thumb pots as convenient) using
light fibrous soil with a free admixture
of sand, and place the pots in a box,
surrounding each one with moist soil,
sand, or moss. Keep near the glass
still, keeping rather close and moist,
by covering the box with a pane of
glass, or each pot with a hand-glass
until the plants are well established.
Shift into one size larger pots every two
or three weeks, or as the previous size
becomes filled with roots, but before
they become matted. This transplant-
ing adds greatly to the "stockiness" of
the plants. Gradually inure to the
outer air by placing outside or raising
the sash on fine days. Finally plant
out in beds made light with fibry soil
and sharp sand, and enriched with old
well-rotted manure.

Sensitiveness op Carmverous Plants.
— The wonderful sensitiveness of car-
niverous plants, when a substance is
placed on them which excites their
peculiar glands, may be considered as
among the most remarkable of all nat-
ural phenomena. If a little bit of hu-
man hair, measuring only 8-1000 of an
inch in length, be placed on one of
tentacles of the Sundew (Drosera ro-
tundifolia), which fragment of hair
only weighs 1-7840 of a grain, the ten-
tacles of the leaf will curve inward.
Now, a bit of hair 1-50 of an inch in
length, and therefore immensely larger
than the one exciting the plant, can
not be appreciated when placed on that

most sensitive of all organs, the tongue.
But if the excitable character of the
Sundew is manifested by this physical
cause, its sensitiveness is shown to a
much greater degree when a chemical
substance is applied to it. If a solution
of phosphate of ammonia be placed di-
rectly on the gland of the other tenta-
cle— a quantity represented by 1-153600
of a grain is sufficient to produce mo-
tion. But the inconceivably small
quantity of 1-19760000 of a grain of the
same substance in solution, under pe-
culiar circumstances, imparted action
to the plant. This is a degree of sen-
sitiveness far surpassing that of any
method of analysis, with the exception
of the spectroscope.

Geraniums. — The very best soil for
this seed is composed of one-third good
garden loam, one -third leaf mold from
the woods, one -fourth decayed wood
fibre, such as we obtain from the hol-
lows of old trees or beneath the chop-
ping log in a long used wood pile, with
one-sixth sand. Use boxes from four
to six inches deep or less (as large box-
es are heavy and inconvenient to han-
dle). Supply good drainage at the bot-
tom, on which place coarse screenings
of any kind, filling to half an inch of
the top with the soil named, sifted
through a quarter -inch screen. Press
the surface uniformly and firmly, and
saturate with boiling water ; dry off a
little, and then measure off into squares
half an inch apart. Place a seed upon
the line at the point of intersection and
with the tips of the finger press each
one so that it rests in a tiny hollow,
just perceptible beneath the surface.
Sift the same fine soil lightly over the
entire surface, using a gauze screen.
Keep the soil moist — never wet, and
place in a south window in warm sun-

136

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUKIST.

shine. They will germinate in a week
as a general thing. Cover carefully at
night and remove to a place secure from
frost, and when the little plants have
formed their second or true leaves,
transplant to two-inch pots, from these
to three inch, and so on.

Smoke as a Protection against Frost.
— The production of artificial clouds of
smoke is a common appliance against
frost in France and Germany. Mons.
Vinard has recommended a plan which
is perfectly successful, and which con-
sists in carefully mixing gas tar and
sawdust and old straw, and piling up
this mixture in large heaps in the vine-
yards. The mixture remains inflamma-
ble for more than a fortnight, in spite
of rain and weather. When required
for use smaller heaps are made from
the large ones, about two feet in diame-
ter, and distributed in and around the
vineyard. If there is little wind these
heaps burn freely for about three and
a half hours, and produce a very dense
smoke. The artificial cloud which thus
enwraps the vines considerably decreas-
es the radiation from the ground, and
therefore prevents frost, which is great-
est toward morning during calm spring
nights.

A New Shrub. — Viburnum dilatatum,
the Botanical Magazine says, is a hardy,
white - flowered Japanese shrub, with
large leaves somewhat like those of the
common Hazel-nut. There are ten or
twelve Japanese species of Viburnum,
including the present plant, which
promises to be a welcome addition to
our gardens. Some of the Viburnums
owe much of their beauty to the fact
that they bear enlarged but abortive
flowers in a way analogous to those of
the Hydrangea. In the present spe-

cies, however, the flowers are all nor-
mal, forming dense rounded clusters at
the apex of the downy stem.

Double Begonias. — The English Jour-
nal, of Horticulture says: The double-
flowered Pelargoniums and Cinerarias
are to be followed by double-flowered
Begonias, some varieties of the tuber-
ous-rooted section being announced by
M. Lemoine of Nancy. It is only the
male flowers of each fascicle that are
double,, the female flowers retaining
their normal form. Of these varieties
B. Gloire de Nancy is in color rich ver-
milion, and B. Lemoinei orange scar-
let. They are to be distributed the

ensuing1 season.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,
For the Month ending March 31, 1876.

(Prepared for The Hokticulturist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
423 Washington Street, near the Post Office) .

BAROMETER.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.10 in.

do 12m 30.10

do 3 p. m 30.09

do 6p.m 30.08

Highest point on the 27th at 12 m. and 3 p. M 30.26

Lowest point on the 8th at 6 p.m 29.69

THERMOMETER.
( With north exposure and free from, reflected, heat.)

Mean height at 9 a. m 53°

do 12 m 57°

do 3 p.m 58°

do 6 P. m 53°

Highest point on the 19th at 12 m 70c

Lowest point on the ltlth at 9 a. m 43°

SELF - REGISTERING THERMOMETER.

Mean height during the night 44°

Highest point at sunrise on the 23d ' 51°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 10th 35°

WINDS.

North and north - east on 10 days ; north - west on 6
days; east on 2 days; south and south-west on 8 days;
west on 5 days.

WEATHER.
Clear all day 13 days; cloudy all day 8 days; variable
on 10 days; rain on 11 days.

RAIN GAUGE. Inches.

1st 0.32

2d 0.99

3d 0.38

4th 0.07

5th 0.20

6th 1.21

7th 0.49

8th 0.24

12th 0.28

13th 0.07

29th 0.12

Total 4.37

Previously reported 20.40

Total for the season 24.77

Mt. Tamalpais, JVLarin pouNTY, £a:

Mountain Scene in California.

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI.

SAJST FRANCISCO, MAY, 1876.

Ho. 5.

BEDDING PLANTS.

BY F. A. MILLEE.

The term "bedding plants" is ap-
plied to a class of plants which are par-
ticularly effective when arranged in
groups or masses in the flower-garden,
or upon the lawn or grass plot. They
consist mostly of herbaceous plants and
annuals of rather low growth, some of
which are cultivated for their flowers,
while others are highly esteemed for
the richness of their foliage, the latter
being now most extensively in use for
Ribbon-gardening, forming the most at-
tractive features in the gardens of the
East and Europe. On this coast very
little attention is paid to this class of
plants for bedding purposes. Here and
there a bed of Verbenas, Pansies, and
Petunias may be seen, but rarely do we
meet with the more delicate foliage
plants which are so essential for effect.
Several reasons can be given for this de-
ficiency in our gardens: first, I must
confess that Ribbon-gardening requires
close attention, in order to keep colors
distinct and the plants neat and com-
pact, which involves a certain amount
of expense for labor to which our Cali-
fornia men of means object, because

Vol. VI.— 10.

they can appreciate other extravagances
much more than a flower-garden; and
second, it is quite necessary, in order to
keep most bedding-plants in good con-
dition, that they should be replaced by
young plants every year. This necessi-
ty is apparent to every one in the East,
where this class of plants is destroyed
every winter season by excessive cold,
but here in this mild climate, where
most of them withstand the winter,
great objection is made to the digging
up of old unsightly plants to make
room for young stock at an additional
expense, and the result is a failure in
nine cases out of ten. In course of
time this sort of economy will probably
give way to a better appreciation of a
well kept garden ; and, in view of this,
I would throw out a few hints which
may be serviceable.

In the formation of a group of bed-
ding-plants it is immaterial what out-
line is given to the bed, as long as some
harmony is preserved with the extent
and the general aspect of the garden.
In all cases the tallest and most robust
growing plants should be placed in the
centre, and the lowest growing ones
around the outside, allowing those of
intermediate growth to fill up in such

138

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

way as to produce a gradual descent
from the centre to the edge of the bed.
The groups may be made up of three,
four, or more sorts of plants, of as many
distinct colors in flower or foliage, each
row representing a certain color. For
instance, any of the following will do
for centres of groups : Perennial Phlox,
Zonale Geraniums, Fuchsias, Campanu-
la, Delphinium formosum, Gladiolus,
Ageratum Mexicanum, Zinnia elegans.
For second row next to the centre: Sal-
via splendens, Gipsophylla, Pentste-
mon, Bouvardia, Cuphea, Antirrhinum,
Coreopsis, Aquilegia, Lupinus, etc.
For third row: Phlox Drummondii, Ger-
man Asters, Balsams, Celosia, Iberis,
German Stock, Cineraria, Calceolaria,
Carnations, etc. For fourth row or bor-
der: Aubrietia, Myosotis, Daisies, Por-
tulacca, Pansies, Alyssum, Gazania,
Nemoph'ila, Verbenas, Oxalis, etc. All
of the above are cultivated for their
flowers, and as most. of them produce
flowers of different colors, care must be
taken that only those of the same color
are selected for their respective posi-
tions.

The following foliage plants are well
adapted for Ribbon-gardening. For the
centre: Arundo donax variegata, Canna,
Perilla Nankinensis, Artemisia, etc.
For second row : Coleus, Achyranthes,
variegated Zonale Geranium, Centau-
rea, etc. For third row: Pyrethrum au-
reum, Gnaphalium, Alternanthera, Se-
dum variegata, etc.

Very desirable groups may be made
up of the following plants: Group 1,
centre, Heliotrope, surrounded with
scarlet or rose-colored Geraniums, bor-
dered with Gazania splendens (flowers
yellow); group 2, centre, red- flowering
Lantana, surrounded by white-flowering
dwarf Chrysanthemum, bordered with
blue-flowering dwarf Ageratum; group
3, centre, Fuchsia corymbiflora, sur-

rounded with Salvia splendens, border-
ed with Centaurea candidinima; group
4, centre, Dracsena indivisa or Austra-
lis, surrounded with variegated leaf Ge-
raniums, bordered with blue Lobelia;
group 5, centre, Coleus Vershaffelti or
Achyranthes, surrounded with Cinera-
ria maritima, bordered with Pyreth-
rum aureum; group '6, centre, dark
blue Heliotrope, surrounded with or-
ange or orange-red Lantanas; third
row, white Bouvardia, bordered with
light blue Lobelia or Myosotis. •

[to be continued.]

BENEFITS OF FORESTS, WOODS, AND
BELTS OF TREES TO CALIFORNIA.

BY NATUKALIST.

. The vast coast forests are being rap-
idly consumed for the various puiposes
for which lumber and timber are used.
It will not be many years before our
forest lands will be denuded of these
valuable and gigantic vegetable pro-
ductions. What is to take their place?
Is it not high time, that, while these for-
ests are being rapidly consumed, we
should be substituting for them other
trees suitable for our wants, and which
will quickly supply their places? We
are glad to find that this good and im-
portant work has within a few years
past been begun. But it is only, we
may truly say, just commenced, and is
not carried on on so great a scale as it
ought to be. There are immense tracts
of country in our promising State still
destitute of trees. They have a barren
and unpleasant aspect. How much
can they be improved by the judicious
planting of suitable trees! The magni-
tude of trees, and the extent which they
cover when they form forests or woods,
make them quite a prominent and de-
lightful feature in the landscape; and

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

139

they are quite as important as their con-
spicuous appearance would seem to in-
timate. The woods are indeed the su-
preme rulers of the plant-world, and
the life of other plants and fruit-trees;
and the prosperity of man himself is
most intimately connected with their
existence.

A wooded soil is favorable to the pro-
duction of springs; also, that the con-
tinued existence of moisture in woods,
and the constant evaporation from them,
will produce a cooler atmosphere, and
therefore a lower degree of temperature
in a country where they abound. The
ocean, winds, and woods may be regard-
ed as the several parts of a great distil-
latory apparatus. The sea is the boiler
in which vapor is raised by the solar
heat; the winds are the guiding tubes
which carry the vapor with them to the
forests and mountains, where a lower
temperature prevails. This naturally
condenses the vapor, the showers of
rain are thus distilled from the cloud
masses, which float in the atmosphere,
by the woods beneath them. The
grateful moisture descends upon the
thirsty landscape, replenishing its num-
erous springs. This we have noticed all
up our north coast and counties when
traveling there during our rainy sea-
son. More rain always falls there than
in the inland counties, or where the
hills, mountains, and plains are devoid
of vegetation. The little streamlets
which issue from these forests continue
to flow a great portion of the year, and
a confluence of their waters forms
brooks and rivers, the natural arteries
of a country. When a country is de-
prived of its forests, springs, and rivu-
lets, it becomes exhausted, and the cli-
mate is rendered warmer and drier.
This explains the reason why the cli-
mate of ancient Britain and Germany,
at the time of Caesar, resembled that

which Sweden chiefly possesses. The
forests were then extensive, and the
wood-cock, stag, wolf, bear, the wild
boar, and wild cattle made them their
home, as now we find them in some of
the woods of Sweden. So, also, the
climate of Greece, in Homer's time,
was like that of modern Germany, and
now produces the Orange and the
Grape. The relative dependency sub-
sisting among the different plants of a
landscape, and their relation to the
soil, can only be understood complete-
ly by reference to first principles. A
wood, through the roots of its trees, as
well as by its thickness or grass cover-
ing, binds together the soil on the de-
clivities of the mountains, and thus in
the most simple and natural manner
strengthens them. If we take the wood
away the springs are dried up, and the
moss or grass covering disappears.
Woods are also useful along the sea-
shore where the coasts are low and
sandy, as their roots bind together the
loose sand, and prevent its being drift-
ed inland by the sea breezes. A por-
tion of our Golden Gate Park is now
beginning to show the benefits of tree
planting in this respect. In America,
in general, and also in many" parts of
California, we are in danger of losing
sight of the utility of the woods. We
are too anxious to convert the land
which they cover to agricultural pur-
poses; we look upon them too much as
an incumbrance on the soil, and their
cutting down is a mere question of dol-
lars and cents. Hence, the woods are
disappearing on all sides where nature
has placed them, and this, also, on a
much too sweeping and formidable a
scale. The denudation should be done
on a more moderate scale, and most of
the waste places of our slope should be
planted here and there with suitable
trees, to form protective woods and

140

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

shielding belts to houses, cities, or-
chards, and gardens.

Let us, then, cultivate trees and for-
ests. If we do not desire California to
be unhealthy, our summers to grow
hotter in the valleys, and our winters
frostier and colder, then let us be up
and stirring in our rainy seasons to
plant trees all over our State. We
have been too neglectful of this in our
Legislative capacities. It is true the
desire for profit from fruit culture has
induced many of our people to plant
orchards of all kinds of fruit. This is
helping the matter in some degree.
But above all we should plant abun-
dance of shade trees. Let us cover our
plains with them. . Our soil and climate
make them grow with marvelous rapid-
ity, and therefore there is every encour-
agement to go extensively into this ben-
eficial measure. Eucalyptus, Cypress,
and Australian Acacias, etc., make enor-
mous growth in a very few years. Ev-
ery person with a country home and a
small piece of land may live under the
grateful shade and prolific productions
of his vines, shade and Fig-trees, as
well as if he owned a large tract, rais-
ing timber and posts for many useful
purposes.

"We have it demonstrated in many
places in various sections of the State
that the Eucalyptus can be raised with-
out irrigation after the first year. And
when the tree can get finely started,
it can reclaim much of our bare land,
that, when beautified in this way by
forest trees, becomes very valuable.
And as a sample of what can be done
without irrigation with the Eucalyptus,
we have the ten-acre park at "Wilming-
ton, belonging to Honorable B. D.
Wilson. These trees were set out
about two years ago, and are now thir-
ty feet in height, and every tree Bhows
a healthy growth.

NATURAL AND AKTTFICIAL DISTRIBU-
TION OF TREES AND PLANTS.

BY A BOTANIST.

It is an interesting study to observe
the various distinctive and peculiar
trees and plants in different parts of the
earth. Africa, for instance, has a rich
tropical flora of her own, but it is less
known, of course, owing to much fewer
explorations there than in many other
portions of the globe. Compared with
other regions, there have been fewer ac-
curate botanical descriptions of this
quarter of the world. African explor-
ers have rarely been technical botanists,
and the few physiological botanists who
have been great travelers have not yet
discovered the treasures that must exist
in the lands recently visited and ap-
proached near the equator. But this
work is now being bravely forwarded.
More is known of the west than of the
east coast. Most of the tracts yet visit-
ed on the east side, and richest in pe-
culiar forms, have been too much above
the level of the sea to allow a growth of
tropical vegetation, that should com-
pare with that of India, the Indian
Archipelago, or Brazil. It would seem
that the plants of the east and west
sides of equatorial Africa are really dis-
tinct. On the eastern side, where Af-
rica touches Arabia, the flora of the
coast is common to the two countries.
The Euphorbia tribe, however, is essen-
tially African, and forms a connecting
link. The varieties are many, but they
are not generally handsome plants. On
the west coast is found the Baobab
(Adansonia) of Senegal, the circumfer-
ence of whose stem is sometimes double
the height of the tree. There is also
the Pandanus candelabrum, rising soli-
tary on the plains with its long forked
branches and stiff leaves; the Palm oil
tree on the coast, and the Mangrove in

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

141

the water. Tropical Arabia is remark-
able for its balsams and richly-scented
gums, as the islands of the Indian
Archipelago for spices, and South
America for its gorgeous colors. Ara-
bia has, also, Figs, Mimosas, and Date
Palms. Out of the tropics, both north-
ern and southern Africa are rich in
their own forms of vegetation. Toward
the equator the tropical character is
soon recognized. On the south side of
the equator the interior of Africa is less
crowded with large vegetation than the
south temperate regions of South Amer-
ica. With a poor soil, dried up and
burnt for a large part of the year, the
heaths, and those plants called by bot-
anists Protea, are exceedingly varied.
The Zamia or the Cycads, and the Eu-
phorbia or the Cactus tribe, are present
in great strength. The thorned Aca-
cias are also common. Australia, like
South Africa, exhibits highly character-
istic forms of vegetation. The Gum-
trees (Eucalyptus) and leafless Acacias
are examples. Even the former are
rather gloomy forms of vegetation,
while the latter are wintry and forbid-
ding in the extreme. The leaves of the
forest trees are generally of a dark ol-
ive green, and it is only in the northern
part, close to or within the tropics, that
the character of the vegetation im-
proves. It must not, however, be sup-
posed that there is no beauty in the
Australian forests. The trees are often
rich in color and varied in form, but
they are always peculiar, and very dis-
tinct in all essentials from those of
South Africa. Norfolk Island, not far
from Australia, is the home of the
Ferns. Only one species of Tree-fern
is found in Tasmania. New Zealand,
exceedingly rich in its Coniferae, or
Pines, is also well supplied with plants
not elsewhere known. The vegetation
of that country affords a multitude of

forest trees, but none that can be re-
garded as representing either the Oak,
the Birch, or the Willow. And yet
New Zealand is nearly the antipodes to
England. The forests on the banks of
the South American rivers away from
the tropics are almost as varied and
beautiful as those close to the equator,
and contain many noble trees not else-
where found, but affording admirable
timber and delicious fruit. The vege-
tation of North America in the north
temperate zone may conveniently be
compared with that of Europe in simi-
lar latitudes. There is a certain re-
semblance, but each has a distinctive
character. Owing to the presence of
lofty mountain chains running from
north to south, the plants adapted to
the colder regions of the north are
found at gradually increasing eleva-
tions, till we reach Mexico; but for the
same reason there is a marked difference
between the floras of the eastern and
western divisions of the country. Even
on the sides of the Alleghany Mount-
ains this difference has been observed;
but the plains west of the Rocky
Mountains exhibit in a more marked
manner a vegetation of their own, and
are distinct from the floras of the cen-
tral plains on the eastern shores. How
different is our California flora from
that of the Alleghany Mountains.
Magnificent Pines and many other tim-
ber trees are met with on our Pacific
shores, and these are distinct from the
East. Mexico and Central America
combine to some extent the vegetation
of North and South America, though
approaching the latter more nearly.
On the higher grounds Oaks, Chest-
nuts, and Pines abound; and on the
plains there are Palms, Logwood, Ma-
hogany, and other equally characteris-
tic trees; the Passion-flower group, the
Pine-apple, the Tobacco plant, the In-

142

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

digo-tree, the Yucca and Aloe, and the
Yam are familiar. Species of the Cac-
tus tribe range widely throughout the
whole country. As the Rocky Mount-
ains, so the Andes in South America
form a great natural barrier across
which there is little or no emigration of
plants. Even in the British Islands
there are no less than five botanical dis-
tricts indicating many migrations that
have taken place when those islands
were connected geographically, and by
land, with parts of Europe from which
they are now quite separated.

THE EOD.

BY PISCATOE.

Of the several articles which consti-
tute the angler's equipment, the rod is
certainly the most important and indis-
pensable. It need scarcely be added
that there is a much greater difference
in the make and quality of fishing-rods
than most people imagine, and it is im-
possible for the most accomplished an-
gler to cast a line properly with a bad
or slovenly made rod. We will pres-
ently speak of the most desirable mate-
rials, rings, fastenings, and appliances
connected with rods for all kinds of
fishing, but particularly for fly-fishing
for trout and salmon, etc. But before
doing this, we will observe generally
that no article is of more delicate
structure, or more easily injured by
rough and improper treatment. The
careful angler will, therefore, always
take his rod to pieces, and replace it in
his bag the moment he ceases opera-
tions. By such treatment, it will re-
tain its spring and elasticity unimpaired
for a great number of years ; in fact, a
person so careful may continue to use
the same rod for a quarter of a century
at least, and it may be so kept as to be

perfectly straight, free from warp, and
as elastic and efficient as the day it left
the store. The only trouble in such a
case may be that it may, of course, be
sometimes accidentally fractured. Rods
made by respectable makers in the large
cities of this country, consigned to and
sold by reliable firms in San Francisco,
such as Liddle & Kaeding, of Wash-
ington Street, Wilson, of Clay, and
Claybrough, of Montgomery, are in
general excellent, both as regards ma-
terial and workmanship, and are usual-
ly free from the most prominent defects,
such as not being thoroughly seasoned,
having knots and cross-baits (that is,
when the fibres of the wood cross each
other transversely or obliquely, instead
of running parallel for the whole length
of the piece), not only warping and
cringing, but readily snapping whenev-
er exposed to an extra strain, and so
being an unceasing cause of vexation
and trouble. The great fault of coun-
try-made or home-made, or any other
than London or New York, or other
large cities5 make of rods, is a want of
sufficient seasoning of the material, and
a weakness in the third piece (next the
top) of a four-jointed rod, or, in other
words, the taper is faulty, and the rod
is too thin and pliant at about two-
thirds of its length from the butt, which
renders it whippy or top-heavy, and it
will never cast a line with that smooth-
ness and precision which are so indis-
pensable to fine fishing in clear water.
The single-handed fly-rod (the most
delicate in structure, and most difficult
to make) should be from ten feet to
twelve and a half or thirteen feet long,
with a stiff and firm butt of whatever
materials, whether straight-grained Ash
or any equally good wood; the second
joint may be of the same material;
Lancewood may do for the third joint,-
and split Bamboo for the fourth or top

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

143

joint; or the whole rod may be formed
of split Bamboo, which, at any rate, is
full as desirable and much lighter. In
fact, split Bamboo rods are now the fa-
vorites, and should weigh from seven
to ten ounces when mounted, and if
from Ash, Lancewood, and split Bam-
boo together, if strictly for single hand,
their weight should range from nine to
to fifteen ounces; and if the latter
weight, they should be about twelve
and a half feet long. Neither rod
should be too withy, springy, or elas-
tic, but should have snap or elasticity
enough in the top to hook a fish with-
out yielding so much as to permit the
victim to disgorge. One of the pleas-
ures of fly-fishing is to use a rod which
will responsively hook a trout with but
the slightest effort or action of the an-
gler. The sport consists in delivering
a fly neatly on a nearly straight line —
seeing the trout rise gushingly to the
surface and accept the lure — at which
critical moment to strike gently with a
slight turn of the wrist, and then play
the fish gracefully. The charm con-
sists much in the manner of taking the
trout at the very instant he makes a
sort of swirl or ripple in the water, and
the surroundings of a pleasing land-
scape, with all its beautiful and varied
vegetation (and here the horticultural
taste, and its excusable congeniality
and connection with fishery takes place
and comes, in) of trees, shrubs, and
flowers — the music of birds, the spring-
time of general rejuvenation, and the
running harmony of the gently gliding
or swiftly rushing waters. There is
much in association with angling, and
it does not prevent the soul from bask-
ing in all the life and beauty of the
sounds, scenery, and botanical studies
which continually surround it.

But to return to our subject of rods:
The whole rod must be so nicely and

truly tapered, and the joints fit the fer-
rules so intimately, as to enable it to
act with as much precision when put
together as if it had grown of one
piece, no particular part or joint being
more pliant than another from the butt
to the tip. By this means all whipping
action, so often caused by badly made
rods, is avoided; its sweep is smooth
and even throughout. The next thing
which demands attention is the meth-
od of fastening the joints together when
the rod is in action. There are many
methods, but we will only speak of one,
which when fishing for very large trout
or salmon we consider the best. This
is to whip or solder two knobs or wire
loops to each joint (and rods are most-
ly already so prepared by their mak-
ers), for the purpose of tying them to-
gether with a fine cord or stout pack
thread, after they are in their places.
A rod made of the materials, and in the
manner before described, will consti-
tute a good, serviceable single-handed
fly-rod, especially if it is provided
(placed in a hollow in the butt) with an
extra top, to be used on emergency for
worm, or bait, or minnow-fishing in the
absence of those rods more proper for
the occasion. There can be had, at all
good fishing tackle stores, a rod which
may be termed a general one — that is,
furnished with and placed in the butt
two or even three extra top joints — so
that it may be used pretty fairly, either
for fly-fishing, boat-fishing, fishing from
a bank, and indeed, all kinds of ang-
ling. The cost of such a rod is usually
about from eight to twelve dollars.
These rods may have three, four, five,
and even six or eight joints to carry in
the pocket, so that the fancy and con-
venience of the purchaser can be suited
in aqy shape. We admire the action of
a three-jointed rod more than a four
(and it is certain that the fewer the

144

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

number of unyielding ferrules there
are, the stronger and truer it "will be),
but the superior portability of the
many jointed rod induces us to give it
the preference. Rods are now to be
had at the tackle-maker's here, of ev-
ery variety of size and make, suitable
for every variety of fish and fishing,
from the bamboo cane, general " Jack-
of-all-trades," as strong and stiff near-
ly as a flag-staff, to the limber and ele-
gant little toy we occasionally see in
the fair hands of some pretty little
minx of nineteen, scarce stouter in the
top-piece than a stiff bristle; and from
a simple spliced one of two pieces,
which, by the by, is undoubtedly the
least apt to break, the lightest and the
truest in action of any, were it not for
its awkwardness to stow away and the
trouble of lashing it together, to all the
different grades of a multiplicity of
joints. •

To separate the joints of a rod when
they become fixed, wrap a piece of
glazed writing-paper tightly round the
ferrule, and keep turning it round and
round in the flame of a spirit-lamp or
candle, until the metal expands and re-
leases the joint. The paper prevents
the flame from injuring the rod, and it
will not burn if rightly applied. The
plan ought always to be adopted when
the joints get fixed, and never, on any
account, endeavor to screw them apart
with great force, as this will so twist
and strain the fibres of the wood as to
cause them partially to separate from
each other, and thus permanently in-
jure the elasticity of the rod.

THE EVE'S APPLE IN THE ISLAND OF
CEYLON.

This is one of the most remarkable
productions of this beautiful and inter-
esting portion of the East Indies. The

tree which bears this singular fruit
(Tuberncemontana dichotania of the Hor-
tus Kewensis) grows to the height of
from twenty to thirty feet. It has an
irregular, inelegant form, with a scanty
growth on the lower parts, but on the
top the leaves germinate luxuriantly,
forming an extensive and graceful
crest. The branches shoot upward,
though a few stick out horizontally, and
these are generally charged with the
greatest quantity of fruit. This is a
deadly poison, and, as if to remove the
the danger of mischief, Providence
has placed it above the reach of both
rational and brute animals, as it hangs
chiefly from the crest of the tree, and
never grows so low as to be reached
from the ground. The trunk is about
the size of a man's body, and covered
with a dark corrugated bark. The
leaves are long and narrow, shaped
like those of the Bay- tree or Laurel,
with a smooth, shining surface, the fi-
bres crossing the filament that divides
the leaf longitudinally being strongly
marked and regular. The flower of this
extraordinary production is said to emit
a fine scent; the color of the fruit,
which hangs from the branches in a
very peculiar and striking manner, is
very beautiful, being orange on the out-
side, and a deep crimson within; the
fruit itself presenting the singular ap-
pearance of having had a piece bitten
out of it. This fruit is shaped some-
thing like a large white Magnum-bo-
num Plum, somewhat flattened at the
extremities, but exhibiting a feature as
singular as it is unpleasing. From the
upper side it appears precisely as if a
portion had been bitten off, and from
this circumstance the Mohammedans,
who imagine the primitive Paradise to
have been situated in Ceylon, have
called it the " Forbidden Fruit; " con-
ceiving that the mark of the breach of

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

145

the Divine interdiction, which entailed
so grievous a curse on the posterity of
Adam, has been placed by the Almighty
upon this singular tree, and that in
consequence of Eve's crime, the fruit
•was rendered poisonous, in order to se-
cure it from general profanation. The
blossom is a white flower, something
larger than that of the Apple-tree ; it
opens into five long pointed leaves,
slightly pinnated, and presenting a pod
which shoots from the extremity of a
capsule, something like that of the
common G-illy- flower. The fruit is
very tempting to the eye, and looks ex-
tremely beautiful as the rays of the sun
fall upon its smooth and glowing sur-
face. When cut, the pulp, which is
solid and without any stone, is of a
deep ardent crimson, but exceedingly
acrid when the smallest quantity is
placed in contact with the tongue.
The Mohammedans of Ceylon formerly
expressed great veneration for this
tree, and connecting it with the print
of Adam's foot on the summit of a
mountain in the interior, of which they
are very tenacious in their belief, they
feel satisfied that this island is the lo-
cality of the earthly Paradise. This
belief is moreover strengthened by the
legend of Adam's bridge, and the
tombs of Cain and Abel in the island of
Ramisseram. Its native name is Diwi
Kadaru, and nine species of the tree
are enumerated. It thrives in a low
situation, with a light mixed soil, and
is found near Colombo, the capital of
the island. This fable about Adam
and Eve, and the "Forbidden Fruit"
growing on the above described tree,
shows to what extent this aricient tra-
dition has spread among a large por-
tion of our race in the early period of
the world, and among many of the
Asiatic people. Adam is represented
by the Moormen, or Mohammedans of

Ceylon, on his expulsion from Paradise,
to have lamented his offense, standing
on the summit of the mountain which
now bears his name; the figure of a
foot is said still to be traced there, but
this the Buddhists claim as a relic of
their deity. If this Eve's Apple-tree is
a useless and fruitful production of
Ceylon, the Cinnamon -tree is one of
the most profitable, growing to the
height of from twenty to thirty feet.

MULCHING PLANTS IN DKY WEATHEK.

During the continuance of dry weath-
er many valuable plants are always lost
which might have been preserved alive
by a little timely and judicious care.
This carelessness is perhaps seldom
willful; but may sometimes arise from
want of knowledge of the most simple
and effective methods adapted for their
preservation, and often from the scarci-
ty of water when the plants stand most
in need of it.

There is one fact in connection with
this subject which can not be too deep-
ly impressed upon the minds of all per-
sons engaged in gardening or orchard
work; and that is, that if the land has
been deeply and faithfully trenched,
and kept in good heart by suitable ma-
nure and frequent digging, the majori-
ty of plants will not only live but thrive
during a continuance of dry weather,
which would be fatal to others less fa-
vorably situated.

The present object is, however, not
to consider the question of the proper
cultivation of the soil, but to give a few
simple methods of mulching, by which
trees and flowering plants may be pro-
tected in dry weather. Mulching, when
properly done, is very effective. The
materials used for this purpose may be
varied to suit the circumstances of indi-
viduals; and, in fact, the range for se-

146

THE CALIFOBNIA HOKTICULTUBIST.

lection need only be limited by the con-
dition that they shall be of a character
calculated to secure a satisfactory re-
sult. By mulching we desire to pre-
serve moisture about the roots, partly
by the nature of the material, which
should have a tendency to attract and
retain moisture, and partly by affording
shelter against the drying effects of sun
and wind. It is also generally made to
answer the further purpose of a ma-
nure, both solid and liquid, so that the
plant is not only nursed against the as-
saults of the weather, but is also at the
same time fed into a state of greater
vigor. Bearing these objects clearly in
mind each reader will soon discover at
his command some material which can
be used for mulching. When it can be
had in sufficient quantity, we prefer
stable litter to all other, placing the
small stuff at the bottom, and covering
lightly with the long straw. In the ab-
sence of this, the soil may be dressed
on the surface with recent cattle dung,
broken fine; half" decayed bark from
the tannery, soaked with liquid manure
from the cesspit; the sawdust from the
wood yard mixed with ashes and char-
coal soaked with liquid manure; or any
other simple compound which would
fertilize and improve the texture of the
soil, after it had served its present pur-
poses as already described. The long
straw of the stable litter, used to cover
up from sun and wind, can be substi-
tuted by straw, grass from swamps, fine
reeds, small dead leaves, mowings of
lawns, or such material not being too
coarse, so as to let in the sun or wind,
or liable to be disturbed by being blown
about, and yet sufficiently open to let
in occasional waterings or a shower.

An elegant and appropriate covering
for mulching around a favorite plant in
the flower-bed or parterre is presented
in the various kinds of moss.

Having, we trust, sufficiently explain-
ed the objects sought by mulching, and
the materials most suitable for the pur-
pose, we will now add a few words as
to the manner in which it should be
applied.

Whatever may be the condition of
the soil around the plant to be mulch-
ed, whether in a high state of cultiva-
tion, or hard and impervious, the sur-
face to be covered must be disturbed
with the points of a garden fork to the
depth of one or two inches, according
to the size and vigor of the plant, so as
not to disturb or injure any roots, and
left as rough as possible. The area to
be treated in this manner will be deter-
mined by the size of the plant, and
should be a circle extending a little be-
yond the outside circuit of its foliage.
The finest portions of the mulching are
now scattered evenly over the rough
ground to the thickness of one or two
inches, according to the size and de-
scription of plant; and it is to be thor-
oughly watered. No sprinkling will
suffice, but the mulching and soil must
be saturated. When the water is quite
soaked in, scatter over a little more of
the fine stuff, and cover lightly but suf-
ficiently with the straw. Much de-
pends upon the manner in which this is
done, and if the work is thorough the
plant will not require watering again
for probably a fortnight, when it should
have another good watering all over the
mulching, so as to soak it and the soil
beneath. The necessity for further wa-
tering can at any moment be ascertain-
ed by making a hole in the mulching
through to the soil underneath.

Much injury is frequently done to the
plants by the manner in which they are
watered in dry weather. At much la-
bor, and perhaps some sacrifice when
water is scarce, a small quantity is
poured upon the parched and impervi-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

147

ous soil ; it runs about on the surface
and wets it probably a quarter of an
inch in depth, but never reaches the
roots; the sua is left to concentrate his
rays upon this little wet spot in the
midst of which is the devoted plant dy-
ing of drought, and the owner patheti-
cally wonders why it don't thrive after
all his care and attention.

Some observant persons, wishing to
insure that every drop of water reaches
the roots, have adopted the following
plan with good effect: They break off
the bottoms of a number of ale bottles,
and sink them, neck downwards, in the
soil near the roots of the plants intend-
ed to be watered. A little loose fibre
is placed in each to prevent earth fall-
ing in, and water can be poured into
the bottles as fast as it soaks away.

Regarding the supply of water for
this purpose, much valuable assistance
can be rendered from the house by
proper management; while we hold the
opinion that no water should, at any
time, be allowed to be wasted from the
bedrooms, bath-room, or kitchen, where
there is a garden ground which would
be fertilized by its application. We
feel sure that our readers will at once
see what a valuable addition this would
make, in times of scarcity, for the pur-
pose of watering the mulched plants.
A proper receptacle should be provid-
ed, in a suitable position, in which all
such water should be put. The pro-
portionate quantity to be added to the
pure water, when being used, will de-
pend upon its constituents; a much
larger proportion being safe if the bath-
room contributed the bulk of it than
otherwise.

Mulching being intended only as a
temporary protection, it should not be
laid on too thickly, or it is liable to
cause the emission of masses of small
roots into the material, which would

be undesirable, as they would be too
much exposed to injury in various
ways.

UNDEVELOPED FEUITS OF AMERICA.

A few wild fruits may be mentioned
which manifestly have great capabili-
ties, that may or may not be developed
in the future. The leading instances,
in my mind, are the Persimmon and
the Papaw; not the true Papaw, of
course, which we have in Florida, but
the Asia Minor, or "Western Papaw so
called. Both Persimmons and Papaws
are freely offering from spontaneous
seedlings, incipient choicer varieties to
be selected from both fruits when only
a few years old, thereby accelerating the
fixation of selected varieties into races;
and both give fruits of types wholly
distinct from any others we possess of
temperate climates. He that has not
tasted Kaki has no conception of the
capabilities of the Diospyrus genius.
The Custard Apples of the West Indies
give some idea of what might be made
of our Papaw when ameliorated by cul-
tivation and close selections for many
generations. I have understood that
one of the veteran pomologists of the
country, Dr. Kirtland, of Ohio, a good
while ago initiated a course of experi-
ments upon the Papaw in this regard;
it would be well to know with what suc-
cess, and if the breeding and selection
have been continued.

Our American Plums have for many
years been in some sort of cultivation
and have improved greatly upon the
wild forms; but I suppose they have
not been systematically attended to.
Their exterior liability to black knot
and other attacks renders them, for the
present, unsuccessful.

Finally, if pomology includes nuts,
there is a promising field uncultivated.

148

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Our wild Chestnuts are sweeter than
those of the Old "World; it would be
well to try whether races might not be
developed with the nuts as large as
Marrons or Spanish Chestnuts, and
without diminution of flavor. If we
were not so easily satisfied with a mere
choice between spontaneous Hickory
nuts, we might have much better and
thinner-shelled ones. Varying as they
do, excessively in the thickness of the
shell and the size and flavor of the ker-
nel, they are inviting your attention,
and promising to reward your care.
The Peccan is waiting to have the bitter
matter between the kernel bred out;
the Butternuts and Black Walnuts to
have their excess of oil turned into a
a farinaceous and sugary matter, and
their shells thinned and smothered by
continued good breeding, when they
will much surpass the European Wal-
nut.— Prof. Asa Gray.

THE SPANISH CHESTNUT.

In all the mountain regions of Spain,
France, Italy, and Switzerland, their
declivities, half way up from the plains
below to the snowy peaks above, are
clothed with magnificent forests of a
species of Chestnut, the edible fruit of
which, imported into this country, is
known as the Spanish Chestnut.
" Oardner's Farmer's Dictionary" con-
tains the following brief description of
this "famous European tree:" "The
European, also called the Spanish or
Italian Chestnut, is of immense size and
longevity, trees being known which
have a girth of sixty feet. The wood,
except in very old trees is admirable,
being more durable than Oak in moist
situations. The bark is also used for
tanning. It prefers a dry, silicious
soil, abounding in silicious matters and
potash. The European variety is easi-

ly raised from the seed, grows rapidly,
and bears in seven years. The fruit is
five times larger than ours, and com-
mands a good price in the market.
Chestnuts are used boiled, roasted, and
raw. In Southern France, Italy, etc.,
they constitute the bread of a large
population." From other sources we
learn more of its uses and values as a
means of subsistence than is furnished
in this meagre account. During the
protracted wars which were formerly
waged between the mountain tribes
and the cities on the plains, the Chest-
nut formed almost the only article of
food which the former could command,
and without it they would have been
starved into submission in a tenth part
of the time required to subdue them by
force of arms. Indeed, the Chestnut
enabled the people in the uplands to
maintain long periods of quasi indepen-
dence, and to dictate their own terms
when yielding. Not only is this nut
eaten boiled 'and roasted, but it is pul-
verized and mixed with flour for bread,
and may be employed in soups, pud-
dings, etc. The nut is exceedingly nu-
tritious and wholesome, and at the
present day forms as essential an arti-
cle for consumption, to very extensive
populations, as it ever did in early
times, when the means of living were
comprised within a smaller compass;
Barry thus speaks of the Spanish
Chestnut, or Marron: "This is the
large, sweet nut, as large as a Horse-
chestnut, imported from abroad. There
are many varieties cultivated in France
and England, but that cultivated by
the French as Marron de Lyon is the
best. It is propagated by grafting on
the common sorts. It is not repro-
duced truly from seed, but its seedlings
produce large and fine fruits. It bears
the second year from the graft and the
fourth from the seed."

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

149

THE BOSTON ELM.

Not only the citizens of Boston but
those of all parts of the country will re-
gret to learn that the " Old Elm Tree "
on the Common succumbed to the high
wind of February 15, and now lies
ruined, having been broken off about
one foot from the ground. This grand
old tree had more than a local interest,
and under its shades have transpired
scenes within the past century which
gave it an historic fame. It will be re-
membered that on the 29th of June,
1860, during a very severe storm, the
tree was seriously injured, and it is not
often that an occurrence of such small
importance as the destruction of a tree
will cause so much sorrow and regret
as did the dismemberment of the " Old
Elm," and hundreds of citizens visited
the spot the next day, and secured por-
tions of the fallen limbs to preserve
among the choicest of the relics of the
olden time. It would be difficult to as-
sign to the tree even an approximate
age; but it has been known, however,
as far back as tradition can go, and it
is reasonable to believe that it was
growing before the arrival of the first
colonists. A tradition, has existed in
the Hancock family, passed down by
Mrs. Lydia Hancock, wife of Thomas,
that her grandfather, Hezekiah Hench-
man, set out the tree when he was a
boy, which would have been about two
hundred years ago; while according to
other traditions witches were hung from
it in 1656 and 1659.

Although the tree had attained a
great age and uncommon size, its pe-
culiar beauty consisted of its fine pro-
portions and graceful limbs. In the
month of April, 1825, the first known
measurement of the tree was made, and
the dimensions were as follows : Height,
sixty-five feet; circumference, twenty-

one feet eight inches at two feet six
inches from the ground, and the
branches extended in diameter eighty-
six feet. The storm of 1860, which so
mutilated the tree, was not the only
one which injured its great branches.
In the summer of 1832 it was much in-
jured by the violence of a storm, and
its great limbs were so much cleft asun-
der as to allow them to rest their branch-
es upon the ground; but they were sub-
sequently, at much cost and labor, re-
stored to their former positions, and
were sustained in place by iron bolts
and braces. By the gale of September,
1869, a large limb measuring forty- two
inches in circumference was also torn
from the tree.

It was upon this ancient tree that
some of the first executions in the colo-
ny are supposed to have taken place,
and during the Revolutionary struggles
it was a place of constant resort of the
Sons of Liberty, who frequently caused
it to be illuminated with lanterns on
evenings of rejoicing and festal occa-
sions. It also served the purpose of
exhibitions of popular feeling and in-
dignation, and from this it probably ac-
quired the name of " Liberty Tree/'
Very near it, on the 3d of July, 1728,
occurred the duel between Benjamin
Woodbridge and Henry Phillips; and
beneath its branches have been enacted
many scenes which inspired patriotism
and shaped the course of subsequent
events. — Boston Journal.

FLOWERS IN LIBERIA.

Most of the African flowers differ
from those of temperate climates in
three striking characteristics, viz., brill-
iancy of color, luxuriance of growth,
and in emitting their odor after sunset.

The last peculiarity has been admira-
bly described by Moore, in speaking of

150

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

that lovely native of India — the fra-
grant Jasmine :

" The flowers that wake while others sleep,
The timid Jasmine buds, that keep
Their fragrance to themselves all day,
But when the sunlight drives away
Let their delicious secret out." '

A rare and beautiful species of the
Jasmine grows in our African forests.
The bushes sometimes grow to the
height of ten feet, and are densely cov-
ered with large pinnate, oval leaves.
The starry white flowers, with bright
pink stems (clustered on what botan-
ists term a cyme), raise their delicate
heads in striking contrast with the
heavy masses of glossy, dark green
leaves. Their fragrance is delightful.
If we happen to awaken at night in a
room where a sprig of this odorous
flower has dropped, we are almost in-
clined to imagine that, instead of the
dreadful malaria we strive so much to
keep out,

' ' The sweet south wind
That breathes upon a bank of Violets,
Stealing and giving odor,"

has, by some miraculous means, pene-
trated our closely-shut African cham-
bers. Most aptly did the ancients call
this sweet flower the " Odorous Violet."

So much has been written about the
majestic Lilies of the tropics that it is
only necessary to say that many finer
varieties flourish on our coast. Per-
haps the most remarkable of these is
the white Chandelier Lily, so called
from having six narrow petals, four
inches long, pendant from beneath,
and six stamens, an inch shorter, grow-
ing out of the margin of a delicate,
funnel-shaped corolla.

The Acacia Mimosa, said to be a na-
tive of the Nile, is a beautiful but fragile-
looking tree, from fifteen to twenty feet
high, with small yellow flowers peep-

ing out from among its branches of
fine sensitive leaves, and giving forth
a most delicious fragrance.

In passing through the forests we are
continually struck by the number and
variety of luxuriant vines, so closely in-
terwoven with the branches of tall trees
as to form a complete canopy. Most
of them are covered with small white
flowers, apparently almost too delicate
to touch.

Many of the flower-bearing shrubs of
temperate climes when transplanted
here attain to the 'height of trees.
Some years since a member of our mis-
sion brought across the Atlantic a small
cutting of the Oleander, from which
has sprung a number of stately trees.
Some in the garden at Cavalla have al-
ready grown full twenty feet high, and
are almost constantly covered with
double pink flowers, which, for rich-
ness and beauty, surpass anything we
have ever seen. A lovely sight it is to
see these magnificent trees surrounded
by birds of brilliant plumage.

Enough has been said to convince
our readers that flowers, so appropri-
ately styled " the smiles of God," have
not been withheld from this land of
moral darkness. We earnestly pray
that the day may come when these
beautiful gifts of our Heavenly Father
may be appreciated by a redeemed and
enlightened people, and that Africa,
spiritually, as well as naturally, "may
rejoice and blossom like the Rose." —
West African Record.

To Make a Nest Egg. — A nest
which can not be broken by frost or ac-
cident, and which can not be mistaken
for a fresh egg, may be made by break-
ing a small hole in a hen's egg, blowing
out the contents, and filling with plas-
ter of Paris.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

151

SPORTSMAN'S CLUB OF CALIFORNIA.

A club under the above name has
been recently organized in this city,
having for its object the protection of
game and fish throughout the State.
Its organizers include some of the best
names among the gentlemen of our
city who take an interest in the preser-
vation of game and fish, and who will
devote their energies to the suppression
of pot -hunting and the wanton de-
struction of birds and fish out of sea-
son. This society will keep a close
watch on the infringers of the recently
enacted laws, and prosecute vigorously
those who set all laws at defiance, as
heretofore. There will be no want of
funds, either, to carry out the objects
of the club, as already a large number
of gentlemen taking an interest in these
matters have signified their intention
of joining — some two hundred or more.
The initiation fee is $20, and $1 per
month dues, which will put the society
in funds to do all they promise. The
club will have special fishing privileges
in connection with the enterprise, to
which members will be entitled.

Such organizations in the East are
doing wonders to enforce the game
laws, which are very stringent, and are
through this means no longer dead let-
ters, as infringers and poachers can tes-
tify to their very great sorrow. The
Sportsman Clubs are working in har-
mony with the Fish Commissioners,
and will aid them in their duties, sec-
onding heartily their efforts to have
proper and effective laws passed that
are not for the benefit of clubs, but for
the general benefit of the whole public,
our legislators having, to their credit,
wisely given their attention to the
enactment of such laws as will be of
great benefit to the State at large, and
check the wholesale destruction of fish
and game before it is too late to reme-

dy the growing evil, and before the
luxury has become so scarce as to be
only within the means of the rich. The
present game law, if properly enforc-
ed, will enable the -poor man to enjoy
its benefits equally, and not put game
and fish beyond his means by its scarci-
ty andconsequent high cost.

Heretofore it has been difficult to
convict under the old law, which re-
quired the offender to be caught in the
very act ; but the present law makes it
equally culpable for any parties to have
game or fish in their possession, out of
season, which will put a stop to res-
taurants serving up quail under the fic-
titious name of " owls." Trout have
been openly sold in the markets for the
past month, although the present law
forbids catching or selling them before
April. The members of the Sports-
man's Club have pledged themselves to
report for prosecution every case of the
kind coming under their observation
hereafter, and what has heretofore been
everybody's business will now be theirs.
Trapping and netting trout in streams,
the use of giant powder cartridges, and
all similar wanton destruction of fish,
will soon be a thing of the past, worthy
only of the Darker Ages, and the gour-
mand will find it not so easy to indulge
his epicurean taste for " owls on toast"
out of season.

The Sportsman's Club is just what is
needed, and with such objects in view
that benefit the entire community, it
should have the hearty support of every
man who would see California continue
to be, as now, celebrated for its splen-
did fish and game, as our markets give
evidence. — Post.

An inch depth of rain on an acre of
ground yields 6,272,640 cubic inches of
water, making 22,625 gallons, or about
ten times that number of pounds.

152

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

THE CAMELLIA.

Mr. James Pentland, in his extempo-
rary address at the last meeting of the
Horticultural Society, said the ladies
ought to know that there is no necessity
for banishing this beautiful plant from
their collections for the house and wind-
ow gardens. All that is necessary is to
keep them elsewhere than in a heated,
dry atmosphere, like that of most liv-
ing-rooms. If placed in a window, in
a room not kept many degrees above
frost, washing the foliage occasionally
to free it from dust, and these magnifi-
cent plants, with due attention as re-
gards water and air, will give more sat-
isfaction than almost any others that
can be grown in the house.

Mr. John Feast, in his essay, said
that keeping these plants in too much
heat was very detrimental to their
growth, and is the reason of their gen-
eral failure as house plants. They will
stand, he said, much hardship, and the
less fire heat they receive the better, if
proper attention be paid to watering.
If your plant has been properly potted,
by using good drainage, it is not apt to
be injured by watering.

In plants that are sickly the foliage
assumes a pale color, and is soft to the
touch. The first thing to resuscitate
them is to re -pot in good soil, with
plenty of drainage. Sometimes the
roots are thoroughly washed free from
the earth with fresh water.

Different cultivators have different
views with regard to soils, but Mr.
Feast favors a fresh, loamy, soft, sili-
cious soil, taken from an old pasturage-
ground, about an inch and a half deep,
and laid away one season to decompose,
and when the plants are to be potted,
add one-third of its bulk of the follow-
ing: Leaf -mold, cow manure, a small
quantity of charcoal, and a little old
mortar, all mixed together. For drain-

age, rough charcoal is probably the best
material, and may be used by placing a
little mess over it before putting in the
plant.

DRIED CURRANTS.

What can be accomplished in Cali-
fornia in the matter of producing Dried
Currants, commonly known as "Zante
Currants," or " Raisins of Corinth,"
may in some measure be understood by
examining samples of that fruit left by
Mr. "W. B. "West for exhibition at the
grocery store of H. S. Sargent, on Hun-
ter Street. The quality of the fruit ap-
pears superior to the best imported, and
in point of cleanness, the boxes far sur-
pass the general average of the foreign
article. Mr. West exhibits the sample
mentioned with a view of drawing gen-
eral attention to what promises to be-
come a very important industry in this
State. The Dried Currant of commerce
is really a small grape, indigenous to
the Ionian Islands, from which immense
quantities annually find their way to
the markets of the world. About three
millions of pounds are annually import-
ed into the United States, and our sup-
ply, as well as that of England and
other European countries, is chiefly
drawn from the Ionian Islands, Greece,
and Turkey. From the success that has
attended experiments in producing this
fruit in California, it seems only reason-
able to believe that in time, and only a
very short time, a heavy current of trade
in dried fruits must inevitably turn to-
ward American possessions on the Pa-
cific. Spain, Portugal, and France do
not surpass, if they equal, California in
the production of the grape, and the
samples of our "Zante Currants" pro-
duced at home, when compared with
the foreign article, must at once con-
vince any reasonable person that the
Greeks and the Turks will soon be cOm-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

153

pelled to play second fiddle to Califor-
nia in the business. We would invite
consumers to call at Mr. Sargent's store
and examine the samples there exhibit-
ed. When farmers perceive what can
easily be accomplished in that direction,
many of them may be induced to devote
a portion of- their lands to the culture
of the white Corinth Crape, the fruit
of which is known as the " Zante Cur-
rant," and it may be a satisfaction for
them to know that Mr. West is propa-
gating plants to supply the demand. —
Stockton Independent.

ALMOND CULTURE.

There are hundreds of acres of hill
land in this country well suited to the
growth of Almonds. We give below
some hints on Almond culture, from
one who has had a long experience in
fruit growing. Two important facts
are here brought out : first, the Almond
succeeds best on hill land ; second, that
it does not require, as some other
fruits, a very rich soil. A light, deep
soil, such as is common on the foot-
hills of Sonoma, is best. Our inform-
ant says :

"I planted Almond trees about fif-
teen years ago. I first budded on
Peach roots; they bore the third year,
and have never missed a crop, except
last year. That year they were killed
by a heavy frost which occurred on the
5th of April. In my opinion, Almonds
ought to be planted on upland — a very-
rich soil is not required. If planted on
the bottom I would select light, gravelly
land. The Almond is the earliest tree
to bloom — coming out often in Janu-
ary. If on low land, they are much
liable to damage from frost. My Al-
mond orchard is on a hill-side from 30
to 60 feet above the plain, with an east-
ern exposure. It would be better to

Vol. VI.— 11.

have a west or north-west slope to the
land, as the trees do not bloom as soon,
and are less liable to injury from frost
than when the exposure is to the east.
My daughter's orchard, near mine, fac-
ing to the west, is not higher above the
plain than mine, and last year she had
a good crop of Peaches and Almonds,
while mine were all killed. The or-
chards are not half a mile apart. My
Peach-trees, with a like exposure, were
not injured. I conclude, then, that
Almonds ought to be planted a little
above the plain, on land with a gentle
slope to the west or north, and never
on low land near water courses. This
rule applies with equal force, as far as
location goes, to Grapes, Peaches, Ap-
ricots, Plums, and other fruits. Ap-
ples, Pears, Plums, and Cherries re-
quire a strong soil. Almonds and
Peaches, in my experience, do better
on a light soil. I plant the Almonds
in the fall in a box; in the spring I put
them in a nursery and leave them till
the following spring, when I set them
out ; and that year I bud or graft them
from the best varieties. I think what
is called the paper shell is the most
salable. In three years the trees be-
gin to bear — they continue to increase
each year; from one tree I took eighty
pounds of dried Almonds ready for
market. The trees were twelve years
old, budded on Peach roots. I sold
the Almonds for 20 cents a pound, net-
ting $8 a tree — this was over the aver-
age. I think it safe to say that full
grown trees will pay $5 a piece per an-
num. The great advantage of growing
Almonds is that you can keep them
over; they do not perish like other
fruit, and if the home market is over-
stocked they can be shipped abroad.
Most of the fruit is planted too close in
this country, which is one'cause of small
fruit. Fruit-trees should be set at

154

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

least thirty feet apart each way to do
well. Wherever you see a crowded
orchard, you will find small fruit, I
think it safe to say that an Almond or-
chard, in a good location, would pay
an annual profit per acre of $500. I
have all kinds of fruit, and my Al-
monds pay the best of any. After
gathering, I hull them and put them
in the sun and thoroughly dry them,
and then they will keep good two or
three years. I have never seen yet a
worm in an Almond. They are easy to
handle and not expensive to ship." — So-
noma Democrat.

AMARYLLIS HENDEESONI COCCINEA.

This Amaryllis is one of many raised
by Mr. G. Henderson, of London, from
seed, and is an instance made in the
improvement of this fine genus by seed-
ling cultivation and crossing. It is of
a scarlet color, each petal tipped with
white and dotted with crimson. Its
funnel-shaped flowers have a greenish
star in the center and are from 6 to 9
inches in diameter.

Many of the Amaryllis are beyond
question among the most showy of
greenhouse flowers, and would be more
esteemed even than the Lily, were they
as hardy. Exceptions, however, may
be found in A. Johnsoni, A. belladonna
and its many varieties, A. Valolla pur-
purea, A. Vittata, A. longiflora, and A.
formossissima, which are adapted either
to the sitting-room or out-door cultiva-
tion. Those of our readers who have
never seen A. formossissima (the Jacob-
ean Lily) would be pleased if they pro-
cured it. The form of the flower is
strikingly graceful — it's glossy, soft
dark-crimson color is superb. Bloom-
ing bulbs may be purchased of any
seedsman for twenty-five cents each,
^hey should be planted in the garden

about June 1st, in light soil, with the
neck above ground. The scape appears
before the narrow strap-shaped leaves
are much developed, and large bulbs
will bear two, sometimes three, flowers
in succession. The greenhouse varie-
ties of the Amaryllis after blooming
may be removed from the pots and pre-
served the same as a Tuberose bulb —
though it is preferred to leave them in
pots placed out of the way in a temper-
ature between 40 and 50 degs., and to
give them the needed repose by with-
holding water. In this way we may
choose our own period for bringing
them into bloom.

When seeds are desired, it is well to
assure the fertilization of the pistil by
artificial application of pollen, and to
keep them in heat and moisture until
the flowers are withered and the seeds
matured. They may be sown at once
and blooming bulbs produced in from
two to four years, according to circum-
stances.— Sural New Yorker.

PRUNING- VINES.

A Grape- grower in Napa County at-
tributes the premature decay of Grape-
vines more to severe pruning and the
use of sulphur than to the phylloxera.
In the Register he recommends planting
the vines sixteen feet apart, and train-
ing them up to a height of several feet,
so that a man or a horse might walk be-
neath them. The first recommenda-
tion, to plant the vines further apart,
we think would be beneficial. The
second recommendation, to train the
vines higher from the ground, would
not answer so well, judging from our
own observation. It is known to all
Grape-growers in this part of the State
that the largest bunches, and the best
and sweetest berries on the bunch, are
next to the ground. We remember re-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

155

moving a large bunch of Flame Tokays
which rested on the ground ; the lower
side of the bunch was partly covered by
the soil and was not colored by the sun,
but the berries were ripe, sweet, and
juicy. On the same vine the bunches
above the ground were small and the
berries inferior. It is the experience
here that all varieties, except the Isa-
bella, Catawba, and kindred species,
grow better the nearer they are to the
ground. To plant further apart would
probably improve the quality of the
Grapes, make the vines less liable to
disease, and not diminish the yield of
wine to the acre. — Sonoma Democrat.

CHEAP AND EAST MADE FOLIAGE BED.

The fashionable foliage bed, owing
to the high price of Coleus, Centaureas,
etc., is an expensive luxury. To pro-
duce the best effect these plants must
be bought by dozen or fifties, and plant-
ed as closely together as possible. Let
me, however, suggest a foliage bed
within the reach of the shallowest
purse. Every old garden has a bunch
of Ribbon Grass — there is sure to be
plenty of it in some of your neighbors'
gardens, if not in your own. Beg, bor-
row, or steal enough of it (and, gener-
ally, you would be thanked for taking
every blade), and put a broad edging
of it around a small circular bed. Buy
one paper of the seed of striped Japan-
ese Maize (cost five cents), and plant all
in the centre of your bed, and you will
soon have something very ornamental
and with very little cost or trouble.
Your Ribbon Grass will prove a per-
manent investment, needing only to be
kept within bounds by trimming. The
centre you can vary from year to year.
There are two kinds of Japanese Maize
— the tall and the short — either of
which is adapted to the object. The

redrleaved Cannas — the seed of some of
which make quite sizable plants in one
season, and grow larger and finer every
year — are also suitable for the same
purpose. The Castor Oil Plant (Bici-
nus Communis), too, will grow quite
vigorously from seed, even when not
started in a hot-bed; but they are so
large that, if they are grown, the size
of the bed should be larger than for the
other plants. The Golden Feathered
Pyrethrum makes a very pretty edging,
but would take longer to bring to per-
fection from the seed. It is a hardy
perennial, however, and needs but slight
protection in winter. — An Observer.

Blackbeekies. — If the reader is now
making his first experiment in the cult-
ure of Blackberries let me give him a
word of advice, to-wit, that he try
mulching instead of hoeing the plants.
If, however, he has a large lot of them,
set in rows so that a horse cultivator
can be used between them, it may be
best to cultivate and hoe. But, for
small patches, I think mulching is bet-
ter for keeping down the weeds, and
keeping the soil cool and loose around
the plants. I used to try hoeing, but
the rows were very near together, so I
could not use the cultivator, and I
found in a short time that I had got
hold of a bad job. Wherever I cut a
root with my hoe there a shoot would
spring up, and very soon I had three
plants where there was room but for
one. Becoming disgusted with this
method of culture, I took up my plants
and decided to mulch instead of hoe-
ing. Old hay or straw costs but little,
will keep down weeds, and promote the
growth of the plants. Let those who
have been in the habit of hoeing give
the mulching a trial. — Cor. Boston Cul-
tivator.

156

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICTJLTUBIST.

(Editorial TwiUVw.

OUR FRONTISPIECE.

This comprises two California views
— one a mountain scene, and the other
a view of Mount Tamalpais. We need
hardly mention how greatly and justly
California is famed for much strikingly
magnificent scenery. The mountainous
character of the State not only pre-
vents monotony, and secures a rich va-
riety of landscape, but gives them ex-
tent as well as grandeur. This majes-
tic mountainous character prevails in
many portions of the slope, but the Yo-
semite Valley especially is a gorge of
matchless cliffs and cascades, and with
more wonderful natural pictures of su-
blimity and beauty than can be found
within an equal space in any other part
of the world. This celebrated valley is
a chasm in the Sierra Nevada, 400 feet
above the level of the sea, and distant
about 120 miles in a direct line from
this city. It is shut in closely by walls
of rock almost perpendicular, from
2,000 to 4,500 feet high. The river
Merced flows through it, forming a
natural meadow ornamented by beauti-
ful trees, brilliant verdure, and lovely,
gorgeous, and varied flowers of every
color and shade.

Mount Tamalpais, or Table Mount-
ain, is a noble and lofty elevation to
be seen from nearly every part of our
extensive bay (a bay, by the way, equal-
ed by none in the world in spaciousness
and beauty but by that of Kio de Jan-
eiro), and clothed with an abundance
of fine vegetation, such as the White
Oak {Quercus hindsii), the Evergreen
Oak {Quercus agrifolia), the Calif ornian
Chestnut Oak (Quercus densifolia), the
Fulvous Oak {Quercus fulvescens) , the
Buckeye or Californian Horse Chestnut
{JEsculus Californica), the Californian
Laurel ( Oreodaphne Californica), the

Californian Nutmeg (Torreya Californi-
ca), the Madrono {Arbutus menziesii),
Manzanita {Archtostaphylos glauca), the
Ceanothus, sometimes called the Cali-
fornia Lilac, with many other hand-
some and interesting trees, shrubs, and
abundance of ferns and flowers. In
our mountain picture may be seen a
traveler on horseback following two
pack-mules, which are on a winding
trail in rather a desolate part of some
mountain range. In the view of Mount
Tamalpais there are delineated two fig-
ures, one of them an artist, employed
making a sketch of the picturesque
mountain, part of the bay, and the sur-
rounding scenery; the other a sports-
man with his gun and accoutrements
resting after his exertions in pursuit of
his game. Both together form a very
natural subject to assist in filling up a
pleasant landscape.

THE EXOTIC GARDENS AND CONSERV-
ATORIES.

Some time since we briefly referred
to this grand establishment, and as ev-
erything now is near completion, we
consider it just and appropriate to give
our readers some idea of the extent of
the institution.

Although the business of selling
plants, etc., has been carried on since
December last, the building of addi-
tional greenhouses and the large con-
servatory has been going on ever since
without interruption, and it is supposed
that by the 15th of May everything will
be completed.

The Exotic Gardens are situated on
Mission Street, between Thirteenth and
Fourteenth Streets, directly opposite
the ever popular ' ' Woodward's Gar-
dens." The locality is the best that
could possibly be chosen for the pur-
pose ; easy of access by most of the

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

157

street cars, in the midst of many fine
residences, and where the atmosphere
is clear when other portions of the city
are enveloped in dense fogs. To grow
plants well, a clear sky and plenty of
sunlight are very materia], and it is pe-
culiar that the locality chosen is com-
paratively free from the disagreeable
fogs swept in from the ocean almost
constantly.

The Exotic Gardens are carried on
under the firm name of Miller, Sievers
& Co., our old friend Mr. F. A. Miller
having the sole management. The to-
tal capital invested is forty thousand
dollars, of which only a very small pro-
portion was expended for dwellings
erected on the premises.

The commercial houses, where plants
are raised, cultivated, and sold, are ten
in number, each 100 feet long, and all
are connected, with one potting and
packing shed, 120 feet long. Of these
ten houses Nos. 1 and 2 are devoted to
propagation and young plants ; these
two houses are heated in winter by an
old-fashioned flue.

Nos. 3 and 4 are heated by hot water
pipes, and are devoted to Orchids, Ma-
rantas, Caladiums, Anthuriums, and
other rare hothouse plants of recent in-
troduction.

No. 5 is devoted to plants which re-
quire shade and a cool temperature;
also for plants to be acclimatized.

No. 6 is the Fernhouse, and we have
never met with a finer and rarer collec-
tion. Over 200 varieties are now culti-
vated, from the smallest size to fine
specimen plants.

No. 7 is entirely occupied by Camel-
lias, Azaleas, and Rhododendrons.
Here we see the Azalea pontica now in
full bloom. This Azalea was lately im-
ported in many varieties from France,
and Mr. Miller thinks that they will
make excellent flowering shrubs for the

garden in this climate. This is the first
introduction of this class of plants.
The flowers are very fragrant, and of
various shades of colors. "We also no-
tice in the house a very vigorous lot of
young Camellias raised here. The
raising of Camellias here is another
novel feature, and apparently a perfect
success. The fact that they can be
grown at home will insure lower prices
than we have been accustomed to pay
for this choice and popular plant. Al-
ready fine young plants can be had at
this establishment for fifty cents, a
price within reach of all.

No. 8 is devoted to Orange-trees,
Oleanders, climbing plants, and Gera-
niums. Probably the largest collec-
tion in the United States, of the differ-
ent varieties of Oranges and Lemons is
to be seen there. Eight varieties of
Oleanders are grown ; and the collec-
tion of Geraniums includes many new
and valuable varieties.

No. 9 accommodates the ever popu-
lar Fuchsias ; also a very choice lot of
Amaryllis, and other rare bulbous
plants.

No. 10 is the house for succulents —
a most interesting class of plants — con-
sisting of 60 varieties of Cactus, 25 va-
rieties of Agaves, 20 varieties of Aloes,
and 15 varieties of Echeverias, besides
a large selection of plants of similar
character.

Another set of houses, Nos. 11, 12,
and 13, each 100 feet long, but on a
much larger scale than the first set, is
at present devoted to young Palms, of
which over 75 varieties are cultivated.
The collection contains about 4,000
plants, from 1|- to 10 feet in height.
Palms are becoming popular, and many
varieties will prove hardy for the gar-
den. Heretofore only one kind could
readily be obtained, and that is Corypha
Australia (Cabbage Palm). Of decora-

158

THE CALIFORNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

tive plants none can compare with the
graceful and effective form of a Palm,
and we hope to see the day when they
will be found more numerously about
our fine residences.

A third set of houses, Nos. 14, 15 and
16, each 120 feet long, are arranged for
cut flowers only. For that purpose
Roses, Pinks, Tuberoses, Cape Jas-
mines, Heliotrope, Camellias, Bouvar-
dias, Begonias, Orange blossoms, Wax
flowers, Maiden Hair, and Smilax will
be cultivated largely.

The main conservatory, 120 feet by
130, consists of three large arch -roof
houses, the centre one being 30 feet
high, and the other wings 24 feet. The
outlines are graceful and the structure
solid. This conservatory has just been
completed, and forms a fine spectacle; it
is by far the largest glass structure in
the United States. The main building
will contain large specimens of Palms,
and Tree-ferns, and groups of specimen
plants artistically arranged. The east
wing will contain a Victoria Regia basin
for water plants, 40 by 40 feet, in the
form of a rockery. The west wing will
be the show house, where collections
of plants are so arranged as to show to
the best advantage; also a rockery with
succulents.

We wish the Exotic Gardens the suc-
cess they deserve, and we have no doubt
that the California public can well ap-
preciate this gigantic undertaking.

NEW PLANTS.

Zinnia Darwinii. — The new varieties
of the very useful annual, Zinnia, will
be gladly welcomed by all flower lovers.
The Z. Darwinii is very double, and,
instead of being flat like the familiar
Z. elegans, its flower is almost globular.
The colors are scarlet, orange-scarlet,
orange -yellow, rosy -purple, sulphur,

and white. The Z. D. nana compacta is
a dwarf variety, and Z. D. vittata is car-
nation striped ; including such combi-
nations as white with purple flakes ;
purple with white flakes ; yellow with
crimson ; sulphur with purple, etc.

A New Lily. — If pictures and re-
ports be truly made the Lilium Pack-
manni will prove something astonishing
in size and coloring. It is a hybrid be-
tween the Auratum and Lancif olium or
Speciosum. The flowers are said to be
eight inches across, spreading and re-
flexed like the Lancifolium. The color
is mostly white, except the base of the
petals, which is slightly suffused with
rosy crimson, the tinted surface being
marked with deep crimson spots. It is
said to be as hardy and as easily grown
as its parents.

FRUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEB.

During a late visit to the most de-
servedly highly praised and beautiful
Napa Valley, which this year, particu-
larly, in common more or less with the
whole of California, is glowing and ex-
ultant in fruit and flower blooming
riches and loveliness, and is especially
remarkable for its luxuriant verdure,
abundant grains and grasses, and fine
trees and shrubs, we had an opportuni-
ty of visiting a small fruit farm belong-
ing to Mr. Sandycock, about six miles
from the city of Napa, on which chiefly
are cultivated with very great success
the Lawton Blackberry and several va-
rieties of the English Gooseberry. The
Blackberries are raised on a very rich
and black alluvial soil, not uncommon
in many parts of this generally very
fertile vallev, and receive a plentiful ir-
rigation in the dry season. The En-
glish Gooseberries are grown on some-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

159

what poorer ground, but made deep
partly by subsoil plowing and partly by
thorough spade-trenching, and plenti-
fully manured every two or three years
with animal dung. Either owing to
the nature of this soil where these
Gooseberries have been planted, or the
artificial modes of management, they
have been preserved by the proprietor
from that terrible pest — the mildew —
which has rendered the success of the
English kinds of Gooseberry in the
whole of the United States, with but
very few exceptions occasionally, alto-
gether hopeless. The variety which
the owner finds to do the best, and pro-
duce the finest fruit — the berries being
from three to five inches in circumfer-
ence— is the Whitesmith. Mr. Sandy-
cock finds a good sale for them when
ripe, in the San Francisco market, con-
signed to Lusk & Co. and others. He
states that the manner of the first at-
tack of the mildew is at the lowest
roots, but, owing to the vigor of the
plants, and their judicious pruning,
which is in the bush and not in the
tree or single stem form, he completely
resists its always much dreaded attack.
This Gooseberry patch is also irrigated
in the dry season, but more moderately
than the Blackberries, which latter
fruit is, like the Gooseberries, very
large, and vastly prolific in quantity to
the acre. The proprietor also raises
abundance of the Cherry Currant,
which he likewise finds to succeed best
in the bush form. He at first having
been a miner in England, and not
therefore accustomed to the science of
horticulture, attempted to cultivate his
Gooseberries and Currants in a sin-
gle stem shape, as is very common in
his native country, but he soon discov-
ered that this would not answer here,
and he therefore had to abandon it.
But his present success with the En-

glish Gooseberry is a good example for
other fruitists, and it would be well for
those who wish to shine in this way
with the foreign sorts, to pay him a
visit, and see all his plans for them-
selves. The English Cherry-trees on
this place looked also very healthy,
and we observed their stems protected
with boards set on end to keep them
from being scalded by the hot rays of
the sun, which they do most effectual-
ly. The proprietor carefully ties up
his Blackberries to stakes, and also his
Gooseberries, to prevent the fruit be-
ing soiled by the earth, and which
makes it also to be more easily gather-
ed. All the above named fruits are
very abundant this year on this place,
and looked very promising as to quality.

While on our favorite subject of
fruit cultivation, we will again urge
fruit planting, and the consequent sav-
ing of doctors' bills, and here we will
quote the excellent advice of one of
our exchanges:

' ' There are too few orchards in the
country. Many farms have not an or-
chard upon them, and in many of the
orchards that are planted, there are
only Apple-trees. Not a Peach, or
Plum, or Cherry, or Pear, or Quince-
tree can be found on the premises,
when there should be dozens of each
kind of fruit. Is there any greater
luxury than ripe fruit ? Do not young
and old desire it? Is there any better
food than ripe fruit? Is it not health-
ful? Ask your physician. He will tell
you it is healthful — that by its proper
use you may frequently prevent a spell
of sickness — that the acid of ripe fruit
will act upon the liver, separate the
blood from the bile, and thus prevent
the bilious attacks to which we are so
subject in this climate. Fruit is a
cheap as well as a healthful article of
diet. Every farmer should have all

160

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

kinds of fruit growing on his farm that
are hardy in this climate. He should
have Cherries and Peaches, Plums and
Pears, Quinces and Apples, growing
in abundance. No other investment
will insure more happiness or profit.
But the farmer should not stop with
these fruits. He should have Straw-
berries, Raspberries, Gooseberries, and
Currants, and Blackberries and Grape-
vines, that his family may have all
kinds of fruits in their season, and ev-
ery day in the year — for winter Apples
and Pears can be kept till Strawberries
ripen in spring. Where there is a will
there is a way ; and we hope farmers
will have the will to plant all these
fruits as soon as possible.

" As the production of fruit is a mat-
ter of pride with our people, and is
destined to be a source of large reven-
ue to them, so they have sufficient mo-
tives for giving their attention to this
matter, and for learning all that is to
be learned about it. The State abounds
with men of sufficient intelligence to
take meteorological observations, and
a sufficient public spirit to perform the
labor, and purchase at their own cost
all the books and instruments needed.
But something more is wanted, and
that is a meteorologist who will explain
precisely how and where observations
can be taken, with the most instruction,
to determine the laws that govern the
night temperatures of our valleys and
and hills in April and May, in Septem-
ber and October, and whether warm
currents or strata of air at different ele-
vations prevent or diminish on the hill-
sides the influences of the radiation
that causes the frosts in the low lands*
The drier the atmosphere and the
clearer the sky, the greater is the radi-
ation, which will sometimes reduce the
temperature of the earth in a few hours
from 80° to the freezing point. A fall

of 13° Fahrenheit has been observed in
four minutes at sunset ; and in Hindo-
stan ice is obtained by setting water in
shallow plates of porous pottery in
loose straw, laid in shallow excavations
in the midst of wide valleys. The
evaporation and radiation bring down
the temperature to 28°, though the at-
mosphere three feet above is 20° high-
er. A series of observations, according
to some uniform plan, and guided by
the highest meteorological learning of
our time, to determine the conditions
of nocturnal radiation and frost through-
out our State, might be of great service
to local industry, as well as of interest
to scientific men.

" As frost is caused mainly, and in
our fruit districts may be attributed ex-
clusively, to radiation, so one of the
best checks of it is tree planting."

Now, as to our fruit and vegetable
markets: A little before the 20th of
last month (April) Strawberries had
become more plentiful and cheaper,
but on the 21st prices became higher,
and the receipts were rather light. On
the 26th to the last of April the weath-
er became quite warm, the thermome-
ter showing in the middle of the day
72°. In consequence of this warmth
the supply became abundant and regu-
lar. Apples were scarce, at $3 to $5
per box, delivered. California Oranges
were a little more abundant than they
had been for a month previous, and
slightly cheaper with the advent of
Strawberries. Vegetables were, the
last of April, generally cheaper. As-
paragus and Rhubarb were especially
abundant. New Potatoes retailed at 6
to 8 cts. per pound; old Potatoes were
more plentiful, and the best California
and Salt Lake sold by the single sack
at $2 50 to $2 75 per 100 lbs. Winter
Apples were scarce, the demand active
for all in good condition. The Ajax

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

161

from Oregon brought 384 boxes of Win-
ter Apples, probably the last of the sea-
son. The receipts of Strawberries aver-
aged upward of 200 chests per day,
selling mostly at $11 to $12 per chest
of 80 lbs. Sicily Lemons and Oranges
"were in good supply. Limes were
plentiful and cheap. Tahiti Oranges
were reported to be very light crop ;
the season was backward, and vessels
at the Society Islands remained there
a long time to complete cargoes, rather
than accept green inferior fruit. Con-
signments of Los Angeles Oranges con-
tinued to arrive, but the Orange crop
from that section is supposed to have
been all in for the season. California
Oranges of superior quality, raised by
Dr. J. Strentzel, near Martinez, Contra
Costa County, were in market.

About the middle of April a ship-
ment of one hundred and fifty boxes of
Messina, Sicily, Oranges arrived in this
city overland. It was the first ship-
ment of the kind which had ever reach-
ed here. The fruit was in good condi-
tion. It bore a very close resemblance
to the Los Angeles Orange — so close
that it would be difficult for an expert
to detect any difference. The skin was
stained with a deposit of the Orange
coccus, showing that the groves of Sic-
ily are afflicted in the same manner as
those of Los Angeles. These Oranges
had been between three and five months
on their way here. Los Angeles cult-
urists need not be alarmed, however,
at the appearance of European semi-
tropical fruit in California. As long as
these foreign Oranges can not be im-
ported and sold without loss at less
than five to six cents each, there is no
danger of any one suffering from the
competition.

About the first of this month (May)
Strawberries arrived in considerable
quantities, and the price came down to

15 cents per pound. The quality, of
course, was much improved. The col-
or of the sort — Longworth Prolific — al-
ways the first in the market, had as-
sumed its usual richness and deep red,
its size the customary large dimensions,
and the flavor its wonted goodness and
sweetness. What an admirable assist-
ant to health and digestion is this deli-
cious and splendid berry at this season
of the year, which is lacking in all kinds
of fruit except Oranges, Apples, and
Bananas, of which we have become al-
most tired. The Strawberry just fills
the bill. " Let us be truly thankful
for what we receive," as we say as a
veiy proper grace before meat.

On the second of this month (May)
we observed on some of the stalls box-
es of good black Tartarian Cherries,
from the neighborhood of Sacramento
and Vacaville.

Eg" ■■■ ■ _■■■■ ■-■ -;

Window Gakdening. — Thousands of
persons, fond of flowers, are, during a
great portion of their lives, confined to
the house, even if they have a garden
or pleasure ground in which Flora's
treasures are growing and blooming.
To meet this love of the beautiful and
gratify the taste, the common practice
is to grow a Rose or Geranium in a pot
upon the window-sill, or a stand near
the window. Those who have com-
mand of means have had aquaria con-
structed, but rarely with any satisfac-
tion to meet anticipation. Some time
since, the London Gardener's Magazine
gave a representation of a case con-
structed in the window by removing the
entire lower sash, and then projecting
a frame to cover the whole width of the
sill, inside and out, raising the lights
and curving them until the top met the
lower part of the upper sash; the bot-

162

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

torn of the case to be made like a draw-
er, showing paneling, to give artistic
appearance, and to have its drainage
made so that any surplus water that
should be given the plants would es-
cape from the outside. In this drawer
the earth is to be placed, and the plants
either set directly in it or they may be
in pots, and the drawer filled to sur-
round and cover the pots with moss.
The cost of construction of this form of
window-case would be quite small, and,
except in severe weather, it would be
no trouble, and mostly out of the way.
It should be made, of course, to fit the
window, and movable on approach of
really cold weather. Another mode is
to have a drawer eight or ten inches
deep, and projecting into the room
four to eight inches, having the sides,
or ends rather, carried up as panels
next the window, and sash-doors hung
on the inside opening into the room.
In the drawer pieces of rock and soil
are placed, and the plants set among
them and trained as they grow up the
side or end panel work. The effect of
this in the long French window is very
good, especially when care has been
taken to get plants that are good climb-
ers, and with broad glossy foliage.

The Tubekose. — E. S. Rand, of Bos-
ton, gives a method of raising the Tube-
rose, by which he says they may be as
easily grown as potatoes, and which was
first practiced by E. W. Buswell, of
that place. It is in substance as fol-
lows: Choose good, hard, healthy bulbs,
and clean them by rubbing off all off-
sets and protuberances. They are to
be planted in a gentle hot -bed, which
is most easily prepared by digging a
space two feet deep with a dry bottom.
Make a box of inch boards a foot wide
(without top or bottom), and set it on

the dug space. Then bank up against
it outside with the earth thrown out of
the space. Then fill the space inside
with a foot and a half of coarse horse
manure, and put a sash over the box,
and the hot -bed is made. When the
heat is up, plant the bulbs in seven-
inch pots, filled with mixed loam, sand,
and peat, and add a small portion of
old manure and powdered charcoal,
after having filled the pots half full of
crumbled old cow manure. Plant a
bulb in the centre of each pot, with the
crown at the surface. Set these pots
in the hot-bed, covering with spent tan
an inch; water well with a fine watering
pot, cover with the sash, and the work
is done. In a week give a little air if
the weather is sunny and the heat of
the bed fierce, covering the sash with a
board or shutter. In a week or so,
when the green tops appear above the
tan, give more air and water, removing
the shutter. Keep a moist, warm air to
make them grow rapidly, and admit
enough air from the outside to prevent
growing slender. Gradually take off
the sash on warm days and cover cool
nights. Early in June the cover may
be left off wholly. The warmer the
aspect, the better they will grow. A
constant supply of water is indispensa-
ble— never intermit. Tie the flower-
stalks, as they grow, to neat stakes.
As the flowers expand, the pots may be
lifted to the veranda or balcony. Later
plantings will give a succession until
mid-autumn.

Poisoning Gophers. — The Rural Press
contains an article on killing squirrels,
from a correspondent, who says he has
tried the can and ditch plan — a sugges-
tion which was first made by the Chron-
icle over two years ago, for protecting
Strawberries and gardens from the rav-

THE CALIFOENIA HOETICULTUEIST.

163

ages of gophers. This correspondent
advises the mixing of phosphorus in
wheat for gophers, and placing it in
the holes, or in the roadways where
they travel. This might be good in
theory, but it is not practical. In the
first place it would cost more than the
benefits would be worth to dig around
and find these underground highways;
and in the next place, all gardens and
fields should be under cultivation at
this time of the year, which would break
up all these roads at each cultivation.
Third, gophers will not touch dry wheat
now when there is so much green stuff
to be had. The only way to administer
poison successfully is to put it into Car-
rots, Beets, inferior Apples that can be
had cheap, or some other kind of vege-
tables or fruits, and the underground
nuisances are sure to smell it and find
the poisoned food. To attempt to kill
off gophers with poisoned wheat would
be so much poison and time thrown
away, for it would be covered up with
dirt by the animals in their burrowing.
Those who have to poison should have
a small patch of Carrots, of which go-
phers are especially fond, and by stick-
ing a knife into the Carrot in various
places and inserting a little strychnine
good results will attend. Where a hole
is open it can be stuck in or laid at the
opening, and the gopher will be sure to
find it out.

Ashes and Manure. — The saving of
wood ashes and their application to the
soil is a part of the business of the
farmer, and there is no part of his bus-
iness that will pay him so well. Dur-
ing the greater part of the winter, a
portion of his business should be the
manufacture of manure and its prepar-
ation for application to the land in the
spring, with the least possible waste of

time and the labor of his teams. Ashes
being a very active and concentrated
manure, can always be used to enrich
the coarser and less valuable materials,
of which the compost heap must con-
tain a large proportion. Even leached
ashes can be used in this way to an un-
limited extent. The lime which they
contain is of itself a very material ad-
dition, of a high value, because it has
been reduced by the action of the fire
to such a fine powder that it readily
comes in contact with the material with
which it is surrounded. The chemical
action induced by the two articles, pot-
ash and lime, aids also in generating
heat in the manure heap, and to put in
action the changes which reduce the
raw manure to that condition which
makes it of the utmost value as a fertil-
izer, which not only yields food to the
crops, but by its action on the unfertile
soil also reduces it into a better condi-
tion to sustain vegetable growth, and
develop an increased production of
stem, leaf, and seed. — Michigan Farmer.

A New Hardy Shrub — Xanthoceras
Sorbifolia. — The London Garden, a
weekly magazine of horticulture of the
highest merit, gives with every issue of
the new year a beautiful colored plate
of some new or rare flower or fruit
likely to prove of permanent value to
our gardens. It deems Xanthoceras
sorbifolia as the. most important intro-
duction made during the last few years
in the way of hardy shrubs.

The raceme of flowers are about
eight inches long — the individual flow-
ers consisting of five petals, white,
sometimes slightly rose-tinted, with a
reddish centre, and an inch or more in
diameter. In appearance it reminds
one of a full-grown Hyacinth raceme,
except that here and there the com-

164

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

pound leaves, consisting of half a doz-
en or more ovate, serrate leaflets, are
freely interspersed. The shrub, of a
bushy habit, is said not to exceed ten
or twelve feet in height, blooming in
April. The fruit, which very rarely
forms, is described as "assuming the
shape of an elongated Peach, about
two inches in length, and one and a
half inch in diameter." The seeds re-
semble those of Kolreuteria paniculata,
near which, in the order Sapindacece, it
is placed.

The plant is still rare, and not yet
offered by our nurserymen. Neverthe-
less we think it well to familiarize our
readers with the names and character-
istics of novelties that promise at no
distant day to become valuable to us. —
Eural New Yorker.

A Beautiful Paeloe Oenament. — A
beautiful ornament for the sitting-room
can be made by covering a common
glass tumbler with moss, the latter
fastened in place by sewing-cotton
wound around. Then glue dried moss
upon a saucer, into which set the tum-
bler, filling it and the remaining space
in the saucer with loose earth from the
woods. Plant the former with a varie-
ty of ferns, and the latter with wood
violets. On the edge of the grass also
plant some of the nameless little ever-
green vines, which bear red (scarlet)
berries, and whose dark, glossy, ivy-
like foliage will trail over the fresh blue
and white of the violets with beautiful
effect. Another good plan is to fill a
rather deep plate with some of the
nameless but beautiful silvery and light
green and delicate pink mosses, which
are met with in profusion in all swamps
and marshes. This can be kept fresh
and beautiful as long as it is not neg-
lected to water it profusely once a day.

It must, of course, be placed in the
shade, or the moss will blanch and die.
In the center of this a clump of large
azure violets should be placed, adding
some curious lichens and pretty fungus
growth from the barks of forest trees,
and a few cones, shells, and pebbles.

A Sin against Natuee. — Of all the
blunders that the common farmer, and
some others, make with others, none is
so common or so hurtful, and which he
is so long finding out, and of which he
might know so certainly, as the prac-
tice of cutting off lower limbs. All
over the country nothing is more com-
mon than to see mutilated trees on al-
most every farm — big limbs cut off near
the body of the tree, and of course rot-
ting to the heart. This is a sin against
nature. The very limbs necessary to
protect the tree from wind and sun,
and just where limbs are needed most,
are cut away. But the greatest injury
is the rotting that always takes place
when a big limb is sawed off — too big
to heal over, it must rot, and, being
kept moist by the growing tree, is in the
right condition to rot, and being on the
body, the rotting goes to the heart and
hurts the whole tree. It is common all
over the country to see large orchards
mutilated in this way. "We often see
holes in the trees where big limbs have
been cut away, where squirrels and
even raccoons could crawl in. Per-
haps the only reason these trimmers
would give is, that the lower limbs are
easiest got at, and some would say they
wanted to raise a crop under the trees.

Leaf Photogeaphs. — A very pretty
amusement, especially for those who
have just completed the study of botany,
is the taking of leaf photographs. One

THE CALIFOKNIA HOBTICULTUBIST.

1G5

very simple process is this : At any drug-
gist's get a clime's worth of bichromate
of potash. Put this in a two ounce
bottle of salt water. When the solu-
tion becomes saturated — that is, the
water has dissolved as much as it will — ■
pour off some of the clear liquid into a
shallow dish; on this float an ordinary
piece of writing paper till it is thorough-
ly moistened. Let it become nearly
dry, in the dark. It should be of
bright yellow. On this put the leaf;
under it a piece of black soft cloth and
several sheets of newsxDapers. Put these
between two pieces of glass (all the pie-
ces should be of the same size), and
with spring clothespins fasten them to-
gether. Expose to a bright sun, plac-
ing the leaf so that the rays will fall
upon it as near perpendicular as possi-
ble. In a few minutes it will begin to
turn brown, but it requires from half
an hour to several hours to produce a
perfect print. When it has become dark
enough, take it from the frame and put
in clear water, which must be changed
every few minutes till the yellow part
becomes perfectly white. Sometimes
the veinings of the leaves will be quite
distinct. By following these directions
it is scarcely possible to fail, and a lit-
tle practice will make perfect.

To Indoor Gardeners. — A corre-
spondent of the Farmer says: Plants
kept in a sitting-room where frequent
sweeping has to be done should be cov-
ered until the dust has settled, as dust
upon the foliage injures the plant by
retarding its growth and bloom, as
leaves are to plant life what lungs are
to animal life. Where scale or red spi-
der have accumulated, as they will in a
warm, dry atmosphere, or in dark situ-
ations, whale oil soap-suds showered
over the leaves and sponged off on the

under side, or turning the bottom up,
and dipping the whole down into de-
coction, will remove the pests. Where
plants are crowded into too small space,
they will generate the aphis or green
fly, and the . thrip and mealy bug.
Smoking or washing the plants thor-
oughly will destroy these also. Above
all, give your plants plenty of fresh air
and all the sunshine possible. But
few plants will grow in the shade, and
this class is mostly confined to the Be-
gonia family and a few varieties of
vines ; among them are the Smilax and
the common Ivy.

The Kesurrection Plant. — .The bo-
tanical name for the Besurrection Plant
— sometimes called the Bose of Jericho
— is Anastatica hierochuntina. It is an
annual, indigenous to the Egyptian des-
erts. When full grown it contracts its
rigid branches into a round ball, and is
then tossed about by the winds. When
it alights in water, or on damp ground,
the branches relax and open out, as if
its life were renewed — hence its name of
Besurrection Plant. One of the su-
perstitious tales told of it is, that it first
bloomed on Christmas Eve, to salute
the birth of the Bedeemer, and paid
homage to His resurrection by remain-
ing expanded till Easter. "These plants
may be bought in a dry state, and will
thus remain for any length of time, but
will always expand when placed in a
saucer of water.

The Chufa. — The Chufa, or Earth-
almond, as it is sometimes called, has
had several introductions into this
country, but as yet does not seem to
have taken much of a hold. Quite oft-
en, however, we get inquiries concern-
ing it. In the south of Europe it grows

166

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICTJLTUKIST.

indigenously. It is like a rush, grow-
ing to a height of about three feet, and
produces small tubers resembling
"ground nuts" of the woodlands of
New York. It has proven very prolific
in the Middle and Southern States, and
will do well enough in the south half of
Illinois, and perhaps, one season with
another, considerably farther north.
They taste like Chestnuts, but are sweet-
er. Hogs are very fond of them and
will do their own digging for them.
As they yield largely — 100 bushels per
acre having been grown — it will be
readily seen that it may pay to grow
them. Fowls also like them extreme-
ly well. In fattening qualities the
Chufa is- very rich. We are glad to
notice that the Department of Agricult-
ure has ordered a supply of seed for
distribution.

Over- watering Plants. — The great-
est trouble with amateur cultivation of
plants arises from over-watering them.
The soil should never become so dry
that the leaves of the plant droop, or
that it will crumble under the finger,
but it should not be supplied with wa-
ter until it has entirely absorbed what
it has received. Every year the prac-
tice of using water quite warm to the
4 hand grows in favor with me, and now
I could not give a plant the smallest sip
of cold water, being sure that it would
injure it. Plants that are coming into
flower or in full blossom, of course, re-
quire more water than those that are
not in so vigorous a condition. Saucers
are quite as needful for the window
garden as for the breakfast table, and
every pot should be supplied with one,
and if it is filled with boiling water ev-
ery morning it will add to the luxuri-
ance of the plant, and frequently no
other moisture will be needed for sev-

eral days. The contents of the teapot
are also efficacious in plant growth and
the tea leaves can be added in small
quantities to the soil of the pots. Ivies
are always beautified by an application
of tea leaves and tea, and it is an excel-
lent thing to wet a sponge in tea and
moisten the leaves with it, as it wipes
off all the dust which accumulates upon
them continually. — Ex.

The Almond Tree. — The cultivation
of this tree receives much less attention
than it deserves. Not only does it pro-
duce early and bear largely, but it is
independent of irrigation when once
it is started. There is a considerable
orchard on the San Anita Kanch which
is in fine condition, notwithstanding the
fact of its not having been irrigated for
several years, and of its being in a dry,
sandy soil. One of the cardinal advan-
tages of the Almond nut is the fact that
it will allow the producer his own time
and his own market for them, since they
will not spoil by delay or by transpor-
tation. Thus he is to a great degree
independent of those fluctuations in
prices, at the mercy of which the raiser
of perishable fruits groans. The im-
portance of Almonds is very great, and
the prices paid for them are so high as
to promise ample profits to any one en-
gaging in the business here. The Lan-
guedoc is the best variety. It is said
to thrive best in light, loamy soil. —
Anaheim Gazette.

The Antagonism of Different Plants.
The Berlin correspondent of Land and
Water publishes a piece of information
that will be welcome to many a farmer:
" Whoever knew," says he, " of two
plants being so inimical to one another
as to kill the other by a mere touch.
This, however, seems to be the case

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

167

when Rape grows near the Thistle. If
a field is infested by Thistles, give it a
turn of Rape Seed, and this plant will
altogether starve, suffocate, and chill
the Thistles out of existence. A trial
was made with different varieties of
Rape seed in square plots, when it was
found that the whole ground was full
of Thistles, and nobody believed the
Rape was having a fair run. But it
had, and as it grew the Thistle vanish-
ed, faded, turned gray, and dried up as
soon as the Rape leaves began to touch
it. Other trials were then made in
flower-pots and garden-beds, and the
Thistle always had to give in, and was
altogether annihilated, whether old and
fully develoxoed, or young and tender."

Salt tor Steawbeebies. The Straw-
berry growers about Alton, 111., scatter
upon the land they . are going to plant
to Strawberries from one to two bar-
rels of salt per acre, to exterminate in-
sect depredators. Mr. Hayden, of Al-
ton, says that the Strawberry growers
there have derived very beneficial re-
sults from the practice. The salt is
usually distributed before plowing, but
we think it advisable to first plow the
land, and then scatter upon it the salt,
and harrow well in; and when well dis-
solved, set the plants. Of course, if
salt is put on the plants it will destroy
them. Salt is a good fertilizer, and the
land is benefited by the application.

Cvpeifedium Stonel. — In the collec-
tion of Orchids at the Royal Gardens,
Kew, London, we saw this magnificent
Orchid in bloom. No description is ad-
equate to give anything like an idea of
its real beauty. It requires a warm
house to grow in, being a native of
Borneo. The leaves are dark green in
color, and grow about eight or ten inch-

es long. Two and sometimes three
flowers are produced on a spike which
rises from the centre of the plant. The
sepals are white, purple and yellow;
the petals are long and yellow, blotched
with purple: the lip, which is very
large, is purple. In a young state the
plant is apt to be rather slow to grow,
but after it gets established it grows
freely, and produces flowers abundant-
ly. Among the many Cypripediums
now in cultivation, there are a good
many really good, and worth a place in
every collection — but there are a good
many worthless, and do not deserve the
trouble of cultivation; but this is one of
the many good ones, and should be
found in every selection where there is
sufficient heat.

Peettt Abeangeiiext or Plants tn
Pots. — Among the prettiest things we
have ever seen in the London flower
market, says the Garden, are small pots
containing growing plants of forced
Lilies of the Valley, and a few fine
crimson Tulips, growing out of a
healthy little tuft of the common Maid-
en-hair Ferns. The same journal, of
January 1st, said: Among the most
beautiful of all pot plants now brought
to Covent Garden market is the lovely
little Siberian Squill, with drooping
flowers of the clearest and most vivid
blue color imaginable. Nothing could
be prettier than pots of Lilies of the
Valley and tender young Ferns, neatly
but not too regularly margined with
this beautiful little Alpine bulb.

Habeothamnus Elegans. — This plant
is a native of Mexico, and is very useful
as a spring-flowering greenhouse plant.
The flowers are tube-shaped, and are
produced in racemes. They are of a

168

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

deep red color; the fruit is a large red
berry, and looks very ornamental when
hanging in bunches — in reality, we think
it looks better than the flowers do. It
is easily grown from cuttings, which are
rooted in a very short time. When well
rooted, and weather warm enough, they
are best planted out of doors during
summer, and lifted in the autumn; then
potted into good rich soil, they make
good flowering plants the following
spring. Old plants should be cut well
back after flowering, and allowed a good
start before being planted out. There
is a variegated-leaved variety in cultiva-
tion— H. elegans argenteus — a very pret-
ty plant, and deserves to be generally
cultivated.

Thunbergia Haekisoni. — We hope that
some of our readers will try this vine
out-of-doors next summer. An English
exchange {The Gardener) says: "Like
most other climbers it grows better and
makes larger plants when it can be
planted out in a prepared border hav-
ing ample drainage, with a compost of
rough, fibrous loam, leaf -mold and a
little sand and charcoal, all well mixed
together." It is easy to mistake these
flowers for Gloxinias, which alone will
give an idea of their beauty. All ac-
counts agree that the red spider is its
greatest enemy — though easily checked
if the plants are properly drained, well
supplied with water and frequently
syringed.

To Prevent Potatoes Rotting. —
Some twenty-five years ago, when Po-
tatoes first rotted so generally in this
country, I had a lot planted on low
ground — a meadow bank — and also a
lot planted on a high piece of ground.
When I commenced to take up my Po-

tatoes I found nearly all those in the
meadow rotted and those on the hill
only about a third rotten. This induc-
ed me to select high-lying ground for
Potatoes, and instead of applying the
manure in the Potato row, as was al-
most the universal practice, I drew out
and spread it on the surface any time
during the winter, and when planting
the Potatoes in the spring I gave no at-
tention to the manure, but plowed the
ground, dropping the Potatoes in every
third furrow. The result was that I
had very few rotten Potatoes, while
most of my neighbors who planted in
the old way lost largely of their crops.
Some varieties rotted worse than others,
— Rural New Yorker.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,

For the Month ending April 30, 1876.

(Prepared for The Hoeticultubist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument arid Chronometer-maker, No.
18 Market Street.)

BAROMETER.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.17 in.

do 12m 30.18

do 3p.m 30.17

do 6p.m 30.16

Highest point on the 15th at 9 a. m 30.38

Lowest point on the 10th at 9 a. m 30.03

THERMOMETER.
( With north exposure and free from refected heat. J

Mean height at 9 a. m 59°

do 12 m 62°

do 3 p.m 62°

do '6 p. m 56°

Highest point on the 27th at 3 P. M 73c

Lowest point on the 9th at 6 p.m 50°

SELF -REGISTERING THERMOMETER.

Mean height during the night 45°

Highest point at sunrise on the 28th 57°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 11th 40°

WINDS.

North and north-west on 6 days; south-west on 7
days; west on 17 days.

WEATHER.

Clear all day 11 days; cloudy all day 4 days; variable
on 15 days; rain on 8 days.

RAIN GAUGE. Inches.

3d 0.21

7th 0.57

8th 0.62

9th 0.S9

18th 0.04

21st 0.08

26th 0.01

28th -_0j02

Total 1-0*

Previously reported 24.77

Total for the season 25.81

-1
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THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI.

SA1S" FRAKCISCO, JUNE, 1876.

Ko. 6.

BEDDING PLANTS.

BY F. A. HILLEB.

I [continued.]

A very fine display can be made of
annuals, and as this mode of "bed-
ding" involves only a very small outlay
for the proper seeds, I can see no rea-
son why it should not be practiced
more extensively. European seed-
growers now furnish seeds of Balsams,
Asters, Pansies, Zinnias, Stocks, etc.,
in assorted colors, and also according
to the height to which the various
strains grow. This enables us to form
groups or beds of any desirable color
or shape with certainty. I would ad-
vise to sow the seeds in pots or boxes,
and to transplant the young plants
carefully into their respective positions,
reserving in all cases a few, to replace
such as may fail.

Some plants do not thrive as well in
this climate as elsewhere, and a little
discretion should be used in the selec-
tion of plants or seeds for this purpose.
Considering for a moment how much
the climate of one locality differs from
that of another, within our own State,
it would be absurd to cultivate the Pan-
sy during summer in the Sacramento
Vol. vt.— 12.

Valley, or the Coleus in San Francisco,
as bedding plants. The former requires
quite a cool, moist atmosphere, and the
latter delights in a warm and sunny ex-
posure. The high winds prevailing at
San Francisco and in its vicinity will
prevent the successful bedding of any
delicate or tender leaf plants, as Cole-
us, Achyranthus, Alternanthera, etc.
I have never met with a good bed of
variegated leaf Geraniums about San
Francisco, and very rarely with a good
group of Asters or Balsams, except in a
very sheltered situation, well protected
from the prevailing summer winds. In
this vicinity, therefore, we should con-
fine ourselves to such plants as our cli-
matic conditions will admit, and I will
mention a few which are really adapted
for bedding. I have already mention-
ed the Pansy, which may be grown here
to perfection during summer, autumn,
and spring, and moderately well dur-
ing winter. "We must bear in mind,
however, that Pansies should be replac-
ed by young plants every nine months,
at least; and if young plants are pro-
vided every six months, so much the
better. They require a very rich and
heavy soil, and a good supply of water.
During autumn,, winter, and spring,

170

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTUEIST.

they may be exposed to sun from morn-
ing until evening, but during summer
tbey will do better if partially shaded.
During this season I have seen as line
Pansies in this market as I have had
the pleasure of seeing anywhere in the
East or Europe. To have them in fine
condition during summer, the soil in
which they are planted should be cov-
ered fully two inches with good ma-
nure, to keep the soil from baking or
over-heating during warm and bright
days. I prefer good old cow manure
for that purpose.

Verbenas thrive well about here, and
a splendid display may be made of
them during spring, summer and au-
tumn. These like a sunny exposure,
and a light, rich, sandy loam. The
forms and colors of Verbenas have been
improved wonderfully during the past
few years, and the varieties are innum-
erable. Verbenas may be raised from
seed or cuttings, but as the plants are
very cheap, I would advise those in
want of them to purchase every spring
young plants of the most desirable va-
rieties. Verbena seed usually offered
in seed stores turns out mostly unsatis-
factory, and to raise them from cuttings
of old plants in this climate is rather
uncertain, and in most cases labor lost.

German Stocks for summer, autumn,
and winter give usually satisfaction,
most of which depends upon the right
kind of seed. The seeds of Stocks may
either be sown in the ground where
they are expected to flower, or they
may be sown in pots or boxes, and the
young plants transplanted when they
are about two inches high. Before
transplanting, they should be exposed
for a few days to the open air in order
to harden them; this is very important
when the plants have been raised under
glass.

Zonale Geraniums, both single and

double, are admirably well adapted for
bedding out. Unfortunately, our peo-
ple seem to have some prejudice against
them, under the plea that they are too
common. I regret that such is the
case. They certainly deserve a con-
spicuous place in our gardens; a bed
of glowing Zonales will always form a
bright and cheerful object. Nowhere
have I seen a better illustration of this
than at the grounds of D. 0. Mills,
Esq., at Millbrae. There, Mr. Ulrich,
his landscape gardener, has produced
a grand effect with Zonale Geraniums,
which could not have been produced by
any other plant. Happily, Mr. Ulrich's
arrangement is such that the distribu-
tion of the scarlet Zonales contrasts
well with the surroundings, and that
the predominant color is just sufficient
to break the monotony which charac-
terizes so many of our suburban
grounds.

[to be continued.]

MAN'S AGENCY ON THE EAETH FOE
GOOD AND FOE EVIL.

BY NATURALIST.

It has not been many years since Cal-
ifornia was settled by civilized races of
mankind, and yet already an observing
person may perceive many influences
that have been exerted on inanimate
nature on this coast, some of which
have effected a deterioration of climate
and other matters, while other influen-
ces have improved them. For instance,
by the destruction of forests for their
timber, and accidental or intentional
burning of them, there has been pro-
duced a considerable deterioration of
climate in many parts, rendering them
drier, and therefore less productive;
while in other sections it is possible
that the climate may have been im-
proved, large tracts being rendered

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTUKIST.

171

habitable and healthy, by draining and
embanking, that were before useless,
and tribes of wild animals have been
removed, which in man's absence had
overrun the country. Then on the oth-
er hand, again, the introduction by
man of certain animals has made a
great impression upon nature. The
great persistency and energy with which
vegetable life forces itself in wherever
there is opportunity, and the mode in
which the smaller tribes of plants pave
the way for the larger, until such for-
est trees or shrubs rise as the circum-
stances will allow, are facts too well
known to render it doubtful that in all
cases there will exist trees and brush
wherever trees and brush can be induc-
ed or are allowed to grow. Certain
animals, such as goats and deer, are es-
pecially injurious to young trees, and
when introduced into a country in
which they are not indigenous, they
' soon check and destroy forest and plant
growth. Thus in some countries, as
instances of forests partly removed, we
find that the presence of a few goats,
which do no great harm to existing
grown trees, entirely prevent the con-
tinuation of forest growth by destroy-
ing the young trees. Throughout the
Indian Islands and Greece, for in-
stance, it is said forests once covered
the land. The forests have been de-
stroyed, and the destruction dates from
the encouragement of the goat at the
expense of the pig, which lives, as is
well known, upon the mast. The de-
struction of wolves by human means
must also tend to the increase of the
browsing animals and the destruction
of the forests. In this way, incidental-
ly, the extirpation of certain tribes of
animals affects the vegetable covering
of the earth. It is exceedingly difficult
to measure the extent of climatic change
produced as the ultimate result of these

forces; but that there is a very great ef-
fect, no one familiar with the facts of
the case will attempt to deny.

Man exerts influence in various ways.
He destroys birds because they eat
fruit. But these birds also feed upon
the insects; and a worse evil is some-
times produced by the increase of in-
sects than is corrected by the destruc-
tion of the birds. He destroys the wild
animals, and introduces tame and do-
mesticated kinds. But some of these
are occasionally multiplied into nuisan-
ces; witness the sometimes great de-
struction of sheep by worthless dogs.
Man extirpates worms and some grubs,
which might do him the greatest bene-
fit if left alive. His influence, when
conscious, is often in a wrong direction;
and when unconscious may turn either
favorably or unfavorably for his inter-
ests, according to circumstances over
which he has no control. Even in the
case of food recognized as valuable,
such as the salmon and the oyster, he
will often, with the most senseless and
stupid carelessness, destroy the race
for the sake of a few years' supply, un-
less stringent laws are put in force to
prevent this, which happily our new
Sporting Club is effecting. As wooded
lands are by no means adapted to hu-
man requirements, seldom furnishing
much, if any, very valuable vegetable
food by their fruits, or very important
animal food by the fowls and beasts
naturally resident in and about them,
it is certain that the first result of any
permanent settlement of men in a coun-
try must involve the destruction of
woods. Even for fuel they need to
cut down a part; but for cultivation,
they require to remove a large portion
of the forest growth of a newly settled
district. Fire is generally used to re-
move the surplus timber, as the result
of burning is highly favorable to the

172

THE CALIFOBNIA HOKTICTJLTUEIST.

production of a valuable soil for the
growth of food crops. Forests have
generally yielded very soon to the re-
peated attacks made on them, as peo-
ple multiplied and wants increased.
The planting of trees checks the move-
ment of winds, and thus in a sensible
degree diminishes cold. As soon, there-
fore, as possible, suitable and useful
trees should be planted in those spots
where the native forests and woods
have been entirely extirpated, and
tracts of country found naturally bare
of timber should be clothed in many
parts with valuable vegetation of this
description, besides an abundance of
profitable fruit trees. Especially are
plenty of trees desirable for California,
so often subject to droughts, and as the
beneficial influence of forests on rain
have been very distinctly shown in trop-
ical countries, so it can not be doubted
that in our partly temperate and part-
ly semi-tropical climate they are very
important. In wooded and undrained
countries the atmosphere is generally
humid, and rain and dew fertilize the
soil, and the result is similar in its na-
ture to that produced on coasts in the
vicinity of a great ocean. The absence
of wood is a great cause of the aridity
of Spain. In France many districts
have suffered by clearing. On the oth-
er hand, examples of the beneficial in-
fluence of planting and restoring woods
are not wanting. In Scotland, where
many miles square have been planted,
the effect has already been manifest,
and in southern France similar obser-
vations have been made. Forests af-
fect the supply of water to springs, for
they protect the fallen rain from evap-
oration, and give it time to sink far in
the interior. In the draining of fens,
marshes, and tule lands, and other low
tracts of land near the mouths of rivers,
or on a coast line, is one of the works

by which man largely influences nature.
The soil thus preserved, though origi-
nally not above high water level, will,
if not sinking, gradually acquire a con-
siderable height by the effect of con-
tinued vegetable growth; but there is
sometimes a shrinkage and settling of
the earth that more than counterbal-
ances this gain. Irrigation requires
some notice as a human agent. It is
particularly desirable in the vast extent
of some of the great valleys in this
State. In the south and east of Eu-
rope, in Asia Minor, and in many parts
of Asia, this method is uniformly and
systematically adopted to insure an in-
creased production. It is needed there
as in California from the nature of the
summer climate, which is continuously
dry, partly from the porous nature of
much of the soil, either composed of
gravel or of porous and fractured rocks,
etc. Besides, the ways in which man
is modifying the climate and natural
features of the earth, by removing or
planting forests, constructing embank-
ments, making or emptying lakes, alter-
ing the course of streams, checking
torrents and inundations, or keeping
out the sea by making or fixing impas-
sable barriers, there are others yet to
be taken into account, such as the in-
tersection of the Isthmus of Suez, the
cutting across of the Isthmus of Darien,
and the tunneling of the English Chan-
nel between England and France, etc.
Much smaller, easier, and less costly
works than these are capable of bring-
ing about great results, and no one can
say where the changes thus induced
can stop.

The Revue Horticole states that the
practice of watering store and green-
house plants with tepid water is wrong.
A much better result is obtained by us-
ing the coldest water within reach.
I

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

173

CALIFORNIA FRUIT REPORT FOR 1875.

BY F. STBENTZEL.

•Although the following report is for
last year, yet, coming from so eminent
a fruit raiser, we consider it well worth
publication. It is addressed to P. Barry,
Esq., chairman General Fruit Commit-
tee, American Pomological Society, and
is written from Alhambra, Contra Cos-
ta County:

Dear Sir : * * * Our winter rains
being rather light, the rainfall for the
season through the extent of the mid-
land counties not overgauging fifteen
inches, and the usual spring showers,
with one exception, entirely wanting,
it is remarkable that even in localities
without facilities for artificial irrigation
the fruit trees made generally a very
good, and the Grape vines an extraor-
dinary growth; this is attributable to
prolonged Cool weather prevailing dur-
ing the growing season. The trees
were overloaded with blossoms, and
promised an abundant yield, but in
many places the severe frosts of the
first days of April destroyed some vari-
eties entire, and decimated others.
The last case was rather beneficial, thus
affording the trees a much needed sea-
son of rest and recuperation.

This occurrence afforded another les-
son, teaching which varieties best with-
stand those freezes. Thus, among Ap-
ples the Early Astrachan and the Har-
vest produced full crops, and side by
side with them the Strawberry, only
yielded one -fourth; Pennock, one half ;
Lyscom, three-fourths, and Baldwins',
an entire failure; but Newton Pippins
were full, whereas Holland Pippins,
King of Tompkins, Russets, and Rhode
Island Greenings, were not above one-
fourth. Pears were rather abundant.
Apricots and soft-shell Almonds suffer-
ed greatly, and in some localities,

Peaches, Plums, and Cherries. All
small fruits did very well. Grapes,
except in a small district around Los
Angeles, were not injured at all, which
is ascribed to the practice now prevail-
ing of late pruning, by which the early-
growth was somewhat retarded, thus
escaping a freeze. It is noticed, also,
that considerable elevations, or loca-
tions where trees are shaded from the
full glare of the sun, are advisable se-
lections for the growth of early bloom-
ing plants. Caterpillars were very nu-
merous in some districts, and wher-
ever not destroyed speedily denuded
the trees of foliage and blossoms.

The extent of our State, bounded by
the Pacific Ocean and the high mount-
ain wall of the Sierra Nevada, furnish-
es all desirable varieties of soil and fa-
vorable configuration, climatic peculi-
arities, and facilities for culture, which
begin to be fully appreciated, so that
all species of fruit grown anywhere
throughout the extent of the temperate
and semi-tropical zones can be accom-
modated with a congenial home for
thriving to perfection; hence, to name
one or another variety of certain spe-
cies as doing best would be a discrimi-
ination not conveying an adequate im-
pression. It can probably be more fit-
ly said, that the profusion with which
our markets are supplied evokes a very
critical taste, requiring for gratification
the finest of its kind; so, nothing but
the juiciest and largest red-streaked or
mottled Apples; the most spicy and
melting of Pears; the glossy Black
Tartarian among Cherries; the Royal
in Apricots; the bloomiest of Plums;
only a York, Crawford, or Stump the
World, among Peaches, have a show
for remunerative sales.

The crowned Pomegranates, the Fig,
the Olive, and the Citrus family all
grow fat anywhere, if supplied with the

174

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTURIST.

sufficient pabulum of moisture ; and
the queen of them all, the luscious
Grape, holds dominion over hill-side
and vale, humid or dry. It may be
distilling its nectar out of the primitive
elements.

THE INSTINCTS OF PLANTS.

No doubt exists among botanists that
varied and complicated movements take
place in many plants. But such have
been little investigated, and the nature
and end of them have generally been
passed over in silence. They are, how-
ever, very clearly examples of instinct-
ive movement, and in many cases serve
highly important and essential ends in
the vegetable economy, although from
our imperfect observation we can not
always point out decidedly the results
that they produce. A very familiar in-
stinctive movement that occurs in
plants is the opening and shutting of
the flowers. Generally, these organs
are spread open so as to expose the
stamens and pistils to the action of light
during the day, and close during the
dark, so as to protect from external in-
jury these delicate organs. A good
deal of variety, however, prevails in
this respect; some plants, as the Portu-
lacca Oleracea, only open their flowers
for about one hour daily, and this at
mid-day. The Oeneothera Biennis, on
the contrary, keeps its flowers shut all
day, and only opens them when night
comes on; and when the sun rises the
flowers close again, unless it be a very
cloudy day, in which case the plant
only shuts its flowers partially, or not
at all. The Nymphcea alba, or Water
Lily, which, when night comes on, not
only closes its flower, but gradually
lowers it until it is beneath the surface
of the water, and thus reposes submerg-

ed. Another example of an instinctive
movement for a very definite end may
be noticed in the Berberis repens, com-
monly called Barberry. The flower
of this plant contains six stamens
which surround a single pistil, the sta-
mens being inclined back upon the
petals, and so away from the pistil.
If, however, any of the stamens be
touched near the base, it immediately
starts forward to the pistil, and strikes
the top of that organ with its anthers.
It soon resumes its original position.
Of course the same effect is produced
whenever an insect alights upon them.
Whenever the anther is ripe, and an
insect enters the flower, the filament
strikes against the pistil with such
force as to burst the anther, and thus
scatter the pollen upon the pistil, and
thereby produce a seed. There is an-
other plant, the Cactus Tuna, which,
whenever an insect enters its ripe flow-
ers, immediately inclines all its stamens
over the pistil, in a somewhat similar
manner. If the stalk or stamen of the
Catastum be disturbed, it springs up
with such violence, that the top of it is
broken off, and actually darted to a
very considerable distance. Of the
Century Plant (Agavce) the members of
this family afford very extraordinary
instances of instinctive movements.
Plants belonging to it are known from
all others by having their hollow grain
contained in bags, from which their es-
cape seems almost impossible. How-
ever, when the time comes for their
seeds to be formed, a small tube grows
from each hollow grain ; and these
tubes all direct themselves toward a
thin spot of the bag which holds them.
This they pierce, and then direct them-
selves toward the stigma; to effect this
object they have sometimes to ascend,
sometimes to descend, and. at other
times to proceed outward at right an-

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

175

gles ; but they invariably hit the exact
direction, according to the position of
the flower, and arrive at the stigma;
thus the seed is fertilized.

The motions of the leaves of plants
must have been noticed by every one.
The most common instances of such
are called, in ordinary language, the
sleep of "plants, although the expression
is a bad one. The phenomenon was
first noticed by Linnseus. He was care-
fully cultivating some Lotus Jacobea, or
Bird's Foot Trefoil (which abounds in
great quantities in this State), one of
which had two flowers. Chancing to
look at the plant one evening, the flow-
ers were not to be seen, and Linnseus
supposed that some one had plucked
them ; the next morning, however, they
were again visible, but on returning at
night they had once more vanished.
The plant was then carefully examined,
and it was found that the leaflets had
altered their position, approached one
another, and by so doing concealed the
flowers. It has been ascertained that
plants kept constantly in the dark open
and close at regular intervals. The
manner in which leaves change their
position is various ; some raise their
leaflets so that their upper stalks are
brought into contact, while others de-
press theirs so that their under surfaces
meet together. The sensitive plants
afford very striking illustrations of
movements performed by vegetables.
The most common of these is the Mimo-
sa Pudica, *an annual, the leaves of
which fold upon being touched. Many
other plants possess this property of
taking on them extraordinary motions
when anything comes in contact with
them, the object effected by them all
is, probably, to shake grasshoppers and
similar vermin. Among these other
plants, the leaves of which assume
such contortions, are species of Smithia

and Biophytum. In Southern Califor-
nia a plant grows called Hon de Zedo,
on account of its performing a sort of
salaam or bow on being touched. Still
more surprising acts of motion take
place in the lower plants. Ambng the
Confervse is a genus called Oscillatorice ,
the members of which might almost be
mistaken for a number of worms writh-
ing together. These shift their posi-
tion with very considerable alacrity.
If, for example, a patch of them be
placed in water, in a plate, and a black
bell glass be inverted over them in such
a manner as not to quite touch the bot-
tom of the plate, the Confervse in a very
short time will be found to have glided
out at the side of the bell glass most
exposed to light. They have been ob-
served to travel in a few hours ten times
their own length. The young of cer-
tain species of them, too, when sepa-
rated from the mother plant, move on-
ward in the water until they reach a
shady spot, when they take root and re-
main fixed. Burnett, who watched their
movements in a glass conservatory,
made the rather remarkable discovery
that although they might be temporari-
ly restrained by force, yet that when
the restraint was removed they imme-
diately moved about with increased
speed, so as to make up for the time
they had lost. A plant grows wild in
this State (although cultivated with
great care- in Europe) called the Dionea
Muscipula, or Venus's Ely-trap. The
leaves of this plant consist of a flatten-
ed petiole, at the extremity of which
are two fleshy lobes, which he, when
expanded, in the same plane with the
petiole. These lobes are capable of
being elevated and brought together in
a position perpendicular to the surface
of the petiole. They are furnished with
cilia or bristles around their margins,
which stand nearly at right angles with

176

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

their upper surface. When a fly or
other insect, crawling over the surface
of the lobes, touches either of these
latter bristles, the irritability is excited,
and the lobes suddenly close, and the
insect is imprisoned. Some little time
after the death of the insect, the lobe
unfolds and waits for another victim.
It appears probable that the plants
make use of the fly, although it is dif-
ficult to conceive in what manner they
can do it. A physiological experiment
was made on two plants of Dionea Musci-
pula selected for this purpose, of nearly
equal size and health ; both were kept
under similar circumstances, save that
one was restrained from flies, worms,
and all kinds of animal food, while the
other was daily fed with small strips of
beefsteak, the result of which experi-
ment was that the epicurean plant lan-
guished on its lenten diet, while the
vegetable beef-eater nourished on its
more substantial fare. See Burnett's
essay on the* "Adumbrations of a
Stomach in Vegetables."

CULTIVATION OF BASKET WILLOW.

There are fifty-nine species of Wil-
lows growing in the United States.
The White Osier (Salix viminalis) is
most generally used by basket-makers.
It differs very much from the wild,
dark-colored Willows that grow along
the margins of creeks and in marshy
places. The White Willow (Salix alba)
is also much used in this country, the
same that is used in many places for.
hedges. When grown especially for
basket-makers, the Willow should be
planted on dry land, and cultivated as
described in Appleton's Journal :

The land being thoroughly prepared,
as for any other crop, the sets are
planted at distances depending upon
the variety of Willow; some are placed

as close as 16 by 18 inches, and coarser
kinds 20 by 12 inches. The sets are
pieces of twigs of the previous season's
growth, about a foot long, and sharp-
ened at the lower end. A frame of
slats is used to secure regularity in
planting ; the slats are the proper dis-
tance apart for the rows, and upon them
are cut notches indicating the places
for the sets. The planter, having his
hand protected by a leather shield,
thrusts the sets into the soil, one at
each notch on the frame, pushing them
into the ground in a slanting position,
and quite out of sight. The object in
planting so thickly is to induce a growth
of slender upright shoots, without any
side branches. The shoots produced
the first season after setting are small,
and of little or no value, but they must
be carefully cut, or the crop of the sec-
ond year will be much injured. The
crop of the third year is expected to
pay all the expenses, rent, taxes, etc.,
of establishing the plantation ; and the
land is kept in Willows ten or twelve
years, when the roots are plowed and
grubbed out, and the land given to
some other crop. The land must all
the time be kept clear of weeds, and if
it shows signs of exhaustion, manure
must be applied. The Willows are cut
as soon as the leaves fall, with a heavy
hooked knife ; the cutting should be
close to the ground, as stumps would
be liable to the attacks of insects and
diseases. The rods are tied in bundles,
having a girth of three feet at the larg-
er end. The after treatment of the
crop depends upon the use for which it
is intended. If for peeling white, the
bundles are set upright, with their
butts in six or eight inches of water ;
and in the following spring, when
growth begins, the bark peels off read-
ily. If for peeling buff, as it is called,
the bundles are set upright until suffi-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

177

ciently dry to be put under cover, or
stacked and thatched over. To peel
these dried Willows, they are steamed
or boiled ; the baskets made from them
are much firmer and more durable than
those from the white rods. The peel-
ing is usually done by drawing the rods
through an implement made of a half-
inch iron rod, something like a pro-
longed letter V. Several machines
have been invented for peeling, some
of which do the work very completely.

CALIFOENrA COFFEE.

The Stockton Independent, of recent
date, thus speaks of native Coffee:

" We were shown yesterday by Wil-
lard T. Jones, of this city, a handful of
native Coffee that was gathered in its
wild state from the foot-hills of Cali-
fornia, where it is said to grow in the
greatest profusion. The existence of
this berry has long been known, but
was generally supposed to bear only a
fancied resemblance in form and taste
to the Coffee of commerce, and but lit-
tle attention has been paid to it. A
careful inspection and botanical analy-
sis of it, however, prove it unmistaka-
bly to belong to the order of cinchona-
cece, the genuine Coffee-plant. It is
described as a scrubby, bushy ever-
green plant, growing to the height of
six or eight feet, with long, smooth,
shining leaves of a dark green color;
its trunk is covered with a. gray colored
bark, and its blossoms grow in thick
clusters. When ripe, the berries are
jet black, resembling a Cherry, and
each contains two grains of Coffee,
whose flat surfaces lay next each other,
surrounded by a pulpy matter about a
sixteenth of an inch thick. If allowed
to remain, this pulp dries around the
kernels in a hard shell that has to be
removed by an artificial process. If

the berries are taken after they ripen,
and before the drying of the pulp takes
place, the pulp can be removed by
breaking the skin and subjecting it to
a washing process, and afterwards dry-
ing the inside grains in the sun, as Mr.
Jones did with the specimens he show-
ed us. The kernels come out of the
pulp white, but a few minutes' expos-
ure to the sun turns them to the brown
Coffee color. The specimen shown us
resembled the Mocha Coffee, except the
kernels were smaller, and the central
groove was not so marked. The sub-
stance of it was not so solid, but it had
the genuine taste of an inferior article
of Coffee, showing that it only required
cultivation to' develop its possibilities.
It may be considered a fact of the great-
est importance that the existence of
this plant, growing in such rank abund-
ance in our foot-hills, and indigenous
to our soil, demonstrates the possibili-
ty of making the growth of Coffee one
of the leading industries of the State."

YUCCA FILAMENTOSA.

This plant is one that improves on
acquaintance. We never thought much
of it until we used i| at home, and now
its loss would be severely felt. It is
the last plant we should use in sym-
metrical plots, or among flowers whose
attractiveness depends in part upon a
precise arrangement and uniformity of
size. We first recognized its fine adap-
tability to certain situations upon see-
ing it in large plots along one of the
lake banks of Central Park. It there
looked to be the right plant in the right
place, and imparted a wild, half-rug-
ged, picturesque beauty that few other
hardy plants could supply. As an un-
dergrowth in shrubbery borders — or
planted between Pines and Spruces, as
we have seen them — the evergreens

178

THE CALIFOBNIA HORTICULTUKIST.

planted rather closely together so as
both to conceal the property line and
serve as a wind-break — or clumped
here and there in the wild garden, they
are very effective. "Wildness is the
Yucca's charm, and it suffers the mo-
ment it is placed in the company of
flaming colors or "tropical amplitude
of leafage."

Its pagoda-like inflorescence is very
fine, and may put to blush a hundred
petted hot-house things that need to
be washed, smoked, forced and rested
throughout the year. It is borne upon
a scape four to six feet high, in a pyra-
midal panicle of simple racemes. The
color of the bell-shaped flowers would
be white but for a slight tint of green.
The plant is nearly acaulescent, and
its lower leaves rest upon the ground,
while the upper ones are more upright
and clustered as in a rosette of spikes.
These leaves are a perfect evergreen,
and retain a fresh color through the
most trying vicissitudes of winter.

Unless it is desired to save seed
(which germinates re'adily) it is best to
cut out the scape as soon as the flowers
have disappeared — since the dry, ob-
long pods are unsightly.

We have never found that it is par-
ticular as to soil or situation, thriving
with us both in sandy and in wet pla-
ces. It is a splendid rockery plant,
and in summer plots harmonizes well
with Sedums, Aloes, Cacti — or, among
hardy plants, with the dwarf evergreens
— with Aralia spinosa — the hardy grass-
es and ferns. Here we have an ever-
green, perfectly hardy — enduring at
least twenty degrees below zero without
injury — that bears in summer hundreds
of flowers more beautiful than most
hot-house subjects — that is easily prop-
agated— that will stand storms, winds
the fiercest, heat, drouth, moisture;
and yet we seldom meet with it.

MEMORIES.

"When the gray twilight softly spreads .

Her robe o'er earth and sky;
When the far mountains' shaggy heads

Are lost to human eye;

When the tired birds at eve hath sought

Sleep in the tuneless bower;
"When the last bee wings homeward, fraught

"With forage from the flower;

"When the dark Pinewood dimly shows

Its deepening tints of green;
When in the west with crimson glows

The sunset's closing scene —

I watch the glimmering shadows kiss

The threshold of the night,
And o'er my heart a soothing bliss

Falls in the waning light ;

And grosser thoughts that sternly cling

To life's dull sober day,
Leave me, as swallows on the wing

Flit from our sight away,

And soft as ripple on the lake,

Within my bosom rise
Half-whispered yearnings, that awake

A thousand memories —

Sweet memories, that only come

To woo my waking dreams,
When twilight shrouds the woodlands dumb,

And slumbers on the streams —

Of faces that I loved of yore,

And songs the loved ones sang,
And children's voices— heard no more —

That through the greenwood rang.

0 spirit treasures! ye are mine,

And to my heart belong,
Yet linger not till I repine,

Or sing a sadder song;

But let me, while I still have power

To catch the sunny glow
Wafted from memory's blissful bower —

The shrine of long ago.

— Chambers' Journal.

QUESTIONING THE SOIL.

The Science of Chemistry, by its
searching analysis, is able to reveal not
only the elements of every soil, but the
constituents, also, of all the grains,
grasses, and vegetables that grow upon

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

179

the farm. Clearly, then, if science can
disclose with accuracy all the nutritive
elements that enter into growing plants,
and if it can, at the same time, indicate
the relative quantity of each of these
elements contained in a given soil, it
should be able, by bringing together
these fundamental facts, to simplify the
processes of husbandry, and render the
business more profitable to the farmer
by insuring greater certainty and larger
results. If the chemist can tell the
owner of the soil just how many pounds
of each kind of plant food are contain-
ed in a square rod, or an acre, and can
also tell him with the same certainty
how many pounds or ounces of each of
these are contained in a bushel of corn,
why should not the farmer be able un-
der a teaching so definite and so lumin-
ous, to supply precisely the amount of
nutriment required by the growing
plant for any given result, so as to ob-
tain one hundred bushels of corn, or
even one hundred and fifty bushels from
an acre, with less trouble and with
greater certainty than he now gets thir-
ty or forty bushels? In other words,
why does not agriculture become, un-
der these conditions, an exact science ?
The answer to this inquiry is very plain.
The chemist who tells the husbandman
just how many pounds of corn elements
are contained in an acre of soil, does
not and can not inform him as to the
condition of these elements; whether
they are free, active and available, or
absolutely inert; and secondly, the the-
ory which teaches what fertilizers to
apply, and in what amount, for a yield
of fifty or one hundred bushels per
acre, can not determine in advance
what proportions of these elements will
find its way into the growing grain.
There is no certain way of getting this
knowledge, except by actual experi-
ment. A direct appeal to the testi-

mony of the soil will secure the infor-
mation that chemistry has failed to im^
part.

TOP-DEESSING OECHAEDS.

The London Garden says: "Top-
dressing can be applied to orchard trees
on grass with the perfect confidence
that improved crops will follow, al-
though the grass itself may be the first
to show the benefit of the top-dressing.
There is before us an instance of an
orchard of Apple-trees planted on thin
gravelly soil; the trees were covered
with moss and stunted, although not
by any means old (about twenty -five
years). The grass of this orchard had
been mown year after year for the sake
of tidiness, thus exhausting the soil
more than the trees did. A rather
rough system of top-dressing was in-
augurated at a sacrifice of appearances;
all sorts of refuse were wheeled or cart-
ed into the orchard and spread over
the surface, such as sifted coal ashes,
old decayed tan, the old soil and rub-
bish from the potting bench, sweepings
and scrapings of roads, etc., until a
considerable thickness of material had
accumulated. The first result was a
troublesome growth of grass, which
was kept down with the scythe, but not
cleared away — on the contrary, allowed
to rot on the surface. By and by the
trees began to emit quantities of young
roots from the lower parts of their
boles into the top-dressing, and the
second result was that the next crop of
Apples was considerably larger and of
a much improved quality; the branches
were severely thinned to admit light
and air, well dusted with quick lime to
remove moss and lichens, and they
were amply repaid by the annual re-
turns afforded by this very simple atten-
tion."

180

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

FRUIT VS. MALARIA.

We find in the revised edition of the
" Fruit Culturist " the following inter-
esting note :

"Residents in the "Western States
and other regions, where intermittents
and similar diseases result from mala-
ria, state that a regular supply of ripe,
home-grown fruit is almost a sure pre-
ventive. Eat the fruit only when fully
ripe, and eat only moderate quantities
at a time, and little need be feared.
The residents of such regions should,
therefore, not omit the earliest oppor-
tunity for a supply. Plant large quan-
tities of Strawberries for early summer
— they will bear abundantly a year from
the time they become established. Also
plant many Currant-bushes — for these
are a most healthy and excellent fruit,
very hardy — and if in abundance, will
last through all the hottest parts of the
summer. The Doolittle and Orange
Raspberries are profuse bearers — the
former very hardy, the latter generally
so, but should be laid down and cover-
ed with an inch or two of earth for win-
ter. [This is not necessary in Califor-
nia.— Ed.] The Rochelle Blackberry,
pinched in when three or four feet high
(about midsummer), will bear abund-
antly, and prove hardier than if the
canes run up without control.

"Delaware, Clinton, and Concord
Grapes are early and hardy, and will
bear in two or three years from trans-
planting. . Dwarf Apples, on the Para-
dise and Doucin stock, will flourish in
any locality, and begin to bear profuse-
ly in three or four years, and on the
Paradise stock often in two years.
Some varieties bear early on common
stock; such, for example, as the Dyer,
Lowell, Early Strawberry, Sops of
Wine, Oldenburgh, Porter, Belmont,
Jonathan, etc. ; but these will, of course.

bear much sooner as dwarfs. The Bart-
lett, Washington, Julienne, Flemish
Beauty, Beurre d'Amalis, Onondaga,
Howell and Seckel Pears, produce ear-
ly as standards, and the Louise Bonne
of Jersey as a dwarf. Houghton's
Gooseberry grows with great vigor, is
very hardy, and in two or three years
affords almost solid masses of berries
in the branches. Such fruits as the
above should be planted out on every
new place, as indispensable to health
as well as to comfort and economy; and
emigrants to new countries should take
a supply with them, as the best medi-
cine chest they can provide. "

WITHOUT STRAWBERRIES.

From the bottom of our heart we
pity the family without Strawberries.
To be compelled to live year after year
without enjoying one of the most deli-
cious fruits God in His goodness has
given us, is cruel. To be dejDrived of
it, when it is so healthful, so delicious,
so desirable every way, and when it
can be raised so cheaply and abundant-
ly, is a shame. If a man is a married
man, he not only wrongs himself by
not having them, but he is cruel to his
wife by preventing her from enjoying
them. If he is a father and loves his
children, he will plant them to be hap-
py and healthy, by eating all they want
of them, week after week while they
bear. Plant them; plant them, every-
body! Let every family rejoice in a
patch of Strawberries. Let them go
to the loaded vines and pluck the aro-
matic, scarlet beauties, and eat their
fill. Let Strawberry short-cakes, and
Strawberries and cream supply the ta-
ble. Strawberries for everybody is the
prayer of the Mural World. Yes, and
the other fruits, also — Raspberries,
Blackberries, Grapes, Gooseberries,

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

181

Currants, and all of the tree fruits.
More fruit food is needed by the farm-
ers.— Rural World.

We believe if more such cheap luxu-
ries were placed on the table of the
farmer, our country homes would have
more attractions, and our young men be
less apt to seek other associations; and
here we would say if the farmers' sons
could see what we have seen, and hear
what we have heard, the past winter —
the request for "something to do"
from finely dressed young men and the
begging for employment — they would
be more content where they are and not
so quick to leave the farm for the city.
Young man, stay where you are and do
what you can to make home attractive
and beautiful.

THE MOON AND THE WEATHER.

The notion that the moon exerts an
influence on the weather is so deeply
rooted that, notwithstanding all the at-
tacks which have been made against it
since meteorology has been seriously
studied, it continues to retain its hold
upon us. And yet there never was a
popular superstition more utterly with-
out a basis than this one. If the moon
really did possess any power over the
weather, that power could only be ex-
ercised in one of three ways — by reflec-
tion of the sun's rays, by attraction, or
by emanation. Now, as the brightest
light of a full moon is never equal in
intensity or quantity to that which is
reflected toward us by a white cloud on
a summer day, it can scarcely be pre-
tended that weather is affected by such
a cause. That the moon does exert at-
traction on us is manifest — we see its
workings in the tides; but though it
can move water, it is most unlikely that
it can do the same to air, for the spe-
cific gravity of the atmosphere is so

small that there is nothing to be at-
tracted. Laplace calculated, indeed,
that the joint attraction of the sun and
moon together could not stir the atmos-
phere at a quicker rate than five miles
a day. As for lunar emanations, not a
sign of them has ever been discovered.
The idea of an influence being produc-
ed by the phases of the moon is there-
fore based on no recognizable cause
whatever. Furthermore, it is now dis-
tinctly shown that no variations at all
really occur in weather at the moment
of the changes of quarter any more
than at any other ordinary times. Since
the establishment of meteorological sta-
tions all over the earth, it has been prov-
ed by millions of observations that there
is no simultaneousness whatever be-
tween the supposed cause and the sup-
posed effect. The whole story is a fan-
cy and a superstition which has been
handed down to us as uncontradicted,
and which we have accepted as true
because our forefathers believed it.
The moon exercises no more influence
on weather than herrings do on the
government of Switzerland. — Black-
wood.

PROPAGATING PLANTS EROM LEAVES.

For centuries it has been known to
florists that certain kinds of plants
could be readily propagated by cuttings
of the leaves ; in fact, this is one of Na-
ture's methods of multiplying hundreds
and thousands of different species. The
leaves of some are broken off by the
wind, and soon after touching the earth
they take root, and become individual
plants, like their parents. This natur-
al method of reproduction or perpetua-
tion of species is mainly confined to
plants of the tropics, but is occasional-
ly seen among those of the temperate
climates. But under artificial condi-

182

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

tions, such as our propagating houses,
the kind of plants which are suscepti-
ble of being multiplied in this manner
has been greatly extended during the
past few years, and our scientific florists
have now reached a point in which
they consider each plant cell an embryo
bud, and a failure to make it take root
and become a distinct, living organism
is attributed more to a want of knowl-
edge of the proper conditions neces-
sary to insure its life when separated
from the parent than doubts in the
truth of the theory advanced above.
At first only the more succulent plants,
like the Cacti, were thought susceptible
of propagation in this manner; then a
step forward was made, and the Begon-
ias were multiplied by leaf cuttings,
since which there has really been no
limit to the possibilities in this direc-
tion. Geraniums, Coleuses, Fuchsias,
Roses, and nearly the whole range of
cultivated plants, have been experi-
mented upon with more or less success.

What were considered great achieve-
ments in propagating plants a few
years ago would now scarcely provoke
a remark, for we are progressing as
rapidly in horticultural science as in
any of the kindred or distantly related
branches.

If we have not as yet been able to
grow Oak-trees from leaves, it is no sign
that it can not be done, for the limit of
possibilities in such matters is constant-
ly receding before the indomitable en-
ergy and skill of each succeeding gen-
eration.— Rural New Yorker.

Take soot from a chimney or stove
where wood is used for fuel, put it in
a vessel, and pour hot water upon it.
When cool, water your plants with it.
The effect is wonderful in producing a
rapid growth and richly tinted flowers.

(&mt%$jmiltm.

HOW TO EXTERMINATE GOPHERS.

Editor Horticulturist: — If you wish
to publish the following suggestions,
they are with pleasure at your service:

The little piece of land which desti-
ny gave me for my home being much
infested with gophers, I determined to
destroy all such enemies so ruinous to
my labor. The land being uncultivat-
ed, I found great numbers of them.
The first and second years I was entire-
ly deprived of the benefit of my exer-
tions through them. I then began to
study their habits, and have come to
the conclusion that the only way to ex-
terminate them is by digging the soil.
My orchard and vegetable garden cover
about three acres of land. Last sum-
mer, after the plentiful showers we had
in June, I spaded the three acres two
feet deep. By this process the roots
and weeds were exposed to the sun.
After the first rain last winter I went
over the land again with the spade.
The rains of the whole winter pene-
trated the ground, and the gophers
were killed. I spaded this spring the
third time, have planted a variety of
vegetables in the garden, and have not
now a single gopher; but before spad-
ing they were there in thousands.

A. HONCHARENKO.

Ukraine, Cal., May 10, 1876.

Accidental Pruning. — An old New
Englander once remarked to us when
we advised him to pinch back his Black-
berry bushes, to keep them within
bonds and make them bear better :
"That's so! I can remember when I
lived down at Darmouth, that we always
found the most Blackberries on the
bushes that the old cow had browsed
down."

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

183

§M MHl $ttU.

FISHING IN LAKES MEECED, SAN AN-
DEEAS, AND PILAECITOS.

BY E. J. HOOPER.

Lake Merced, or Laguna de la Mer-
ced, as it is more properly called, is
situated on our peninusula, six miles
and a half from the city, in a south-
westerly direction, and from one-quar-
ter to half a mile from the ocean beach.
It comprises two bodies of water con-
nected by a short, narrow strait or
channel, through which the more
southerly and larger body of water is
continually flowing into the smaller
one, with a very moderate or slow cur-
rent. The lake has a general north-
westerly direction, and at its southern
extremity crosses the southern bound-
ary of the city and county of San Fran-
cisco. At the northern extremity of the
smaller or lower lake is the outlet
(carefully guarded by a grating to pre-
vent the fish from escaping), a narrow
stream flowing through the sands to
the ocean beyond, but at this time I
observe this stream is stopped up with
sand. The banks of both divisions of
the Laguna de la Merced are general-
ly abrupt and high, though the west-
erly shore descends in an easy slope
from the coast range of hills which shut
the lake in from the sea, and forms a
barrier to any ingress of salt water.

This gentle slope of the western shore
affords anglers a good opportunity to
bait-fish from it, about which more
anon. The area of both arms of the
lake is estimated to be in the neighbor-
hood of 400 acres, and the average
depth of water some 22 feet. This
noble piece, or rather pieces of water,
about two or three years since, was
leased by the California Acclimatizing
Society for the purpose of stocking it
with game fish — the silver or Sacramen-
to salmon (salmo quinnat), Lake Tahoe
trout (salmo irrida), and salmon trout
(salmo trutta) — for the purposes of ang-
ling recreation for the members of the
Society. Last year, and the present as
far as tested, these fish have been suffi-
ciently numerous to afford good sport.
The new Sportsman's Club of Califor-
nia and the Acclimatizing Society have
lately formed a union of interests, and
have control of the lake for fishing pur-
poses. The initiation fee to the Sports-
man's Club is $20, and $3 thereafter
for quarterly dues, and $1 a day for
a permit to fish. A club house near
the mouth of the lake has been fitted
up for the convenience of members
and invited anglers, with closets, sleep-
ing berths, stabling, sheds, boats, etc.
Members who have the privilege of in-
viting angling friends have to pay for
the same two dollars and fifty cents per
diem for a permit for their friends to
use the lake, boats, and other accom-

184

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

modations provided for the purposes of
fishing.

It is usual either to angle from a
boat or from the shore. Of course,
when from a boat, it is anchored either
from the head or stern, or both. The
baits in most general use are earth-
worms, shrimps, boiled or unboiled,
clams, small fish, or pieces of fish.
When fishing from a boat, a rod about
twelve or fourteen feet long, or even
less, is most convenient, although a
long pole of sixteen or eighteen feet
has the advantage of being used a
greater distance from the boat, and con-
sequently alarming the fish less. From
the shore a rod of about eighteen or
twenty feet long, if made of light ma-
terials, is a decided advantage, in or-
der to reach out a good distance and
command a sufficient area of water. Of
course in both cases a reel or winch is
requisite, as the fish in this lake are
very strong and game, especially the
salmon. The fish, this year, are more
than double the size they were last sea-
son. I should take their average weight
to be about two pounds, the trout run-
ning rather the larger of the three kinds
— the salmon, salmon-trout, and trout
— and sometimes being taken of six
pounds weight. Of the salmon-trout
there are but few. The float is most
commonly used, with a depth of about
six feet from the bottom hook, although
I have witnessed some success without
a float, when angling from either the
shore or boat.

Of the two most favorite baits — the
worm and the boiled shrimp — I should
be inclined to recommend the last, al-
though worms (either brown or red),
when well bunched with their ends
squirming about in a lively manner,
are often a tempting and successful
lure. The heads of the shrimp are
best taken off, and also part of the

body portion of the hard shell, insert-
ing the hook (of moderate size), from
the end of the tail toward the head of
the shrimp, the end of the hook being
concealed in the body of the crusta-
cean, and the shank of the hook being
partly concealed by its tail end along-
side of it. It is true that many of these
fish, when well on the feed, will hook
themselves, if sufficient time be allowed
them, but when they seem to be less
hungry and not eager for food, I con-
sider it better, when they bite and the
float descends in the water for five or
six seconds, to strike quite strongly and
sharply, to drive the hook home in the
jaw, in case of its touching or striking
the upper, which is much harder than
the lower one, or even the sides of the
mouth. I am satisfied that many good
fish are lost by not striking them sharp-
ly and firmly enough, after the float has
dived a sufficient time for the hook to
hit some part of the jaws or throat.
"When a boat is used, a large landing-
net is a sine qua non, but when fishing
from the bank, an exhausted fish is eas-
ily drawn ashore, and the angler can
then speedily get his prize into his
clutches.

In the early part of the season on
this lake, bait-fishing is most success-
ful, but later, trolling from a boat, with
a moderate sized flashing gold and sil-
ver colored spoon bait, seems to succeed
best. There should be two persons,
one to row and the other to fish; row-
ing rather fast; but, on a pinch, one
person can both row and fish at the
same time, by having the rod placed
over the stern, and by his side, or be-
tween his legs; and there is no difficul-
ty in seeing a bite, and feeling a strong
jerk of the rod by the fish when he takes
hold, and it is not a very unpleasant
shock to the nerves of the angler either.
In Lake San Andreas, the silvery

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

185

grilse or young salmon most abound,
the brook-trout species being scarce.
The salmon do not run as large as they
do in Lake Merced, but probably they
are rather more abundant. They both
bait-fish and troll from a boat there at
various times of the season ; and from
some parts of its rather flat loamy shores
the fish have been taken with a fly.
This mode is rarely successful in Lake
Merced. On the contrary, at Lake
Pilarcitos, which abounds in fine brook
trout (salmo irrida), the fly (a red-bodied
one) is very killing — although bait-fish-
ing is a successful mode there, too. Both
Lakes San Andreas and Pilarcitos have
been leased by the Sportsmen's Club,
and club-houses, boats, and other con-
veniences on the shores of each of these
fine lakes have been provided for the
delectation of the members and their
friends, under the appointed conditions
of the Club, similar to those of Lake
Merced. Lake San Andreas is about
twenty miles from the city, and Pil-
arcitos about thirty. From the Sev-
enteen-mile House San Andreas is
three miles, and Pilarcitos eleven or
thereabouts. There are no small fish
in Lake Merced for the salmon to feed
on, but only water weeds and a small
water louse or flea, in form and action
somewhat like a shrimp ; and of course
some other natural worms, grubs, and
insects. There are plenty of bull-heads
(a kind of cat-fish), and probably some
stickle-backs in these waters. In Lake
San Andreas there are chubs and a few
other kinds of small fish, and I believe,
also, in Pilarcitos. It would be very
advisable to form a rocky and gravelly
bed in some creek or inlet in Lake Mer-
ced for the fish to spawn in, as, for
want of it, it is thought none of the
salmon tribe breed there. When addi-
tional young fish are planted, they
should be of a larger size than they

Vol. VI.— 13.

have hitherto been, that they may not
become so easy a prey to their larger
brethren. I am told no young fish
were put into the lake last year or the
year before. Would it not be well,
likewise, to put in a parcel of chubs, as
they would readily breed there, and be-
come suitable food for the salmon and
trout family.

FISHING WITH FLOAT AND BAIT.

BY PISCATOE.

In deep still rivers, lakes, or ponds,
the float is an indispensable auxiliary
to the bait or bottom-angler, in order
to keep the bait either quite still, or by
giving it a little motion at a proper dis-
tance from the bottom to prevent it
lying motionless on the mud, gravel, or
sand, or whatever the bottom may be.
Floats are manufactured as most suita-
ble for the above kind of fishing of
cork, and of various shapes, as pear-
shaped, oval, etc., proportioned in size
and material to the weight of the bait
to be suspended, the strength and
depth of the current, and the kind of
fish we are in pursuit of. In live-bait
or dead-bait fishing with any small fish,
or when large heavy worms or shrimps,
etc., are used, or the river is deep and
the current powerful, or if in tide-wa-
ter the tide is strong, so as to require
heavy sinkers to be appended to the
line to keep the bait down, cork-floats
of a pear shape and corresponding bulk
must be used. On the other hand, in
waters of but moderate depth and veloc-
ity, or quite still, or very gently mov-
ing or flowing, and with small baits,
the slender, or narrow light floats are
the best, as being less bulky and con-
spicuous, as a very little object, partic-
ularly if painted with glaring colors, is
apt to keep at a distance such timid

186

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

fish, as the salmon and trout. Here let
the sportsman bear in mind that the
smaller and finer the float, consistent
with the depth and strength of the cur-
rent and the weight to be suspended,
the better will be his success; and if
the water is moderately clear this is of
paramount importance. The angler
must likewise remember that either in
comparatively still or shallow water,
less lead is required to sink the bait .to
a proper depth than in rapid or deep
streams, and that consequently a less
bulky and conspicuous float will suffice,
and indeed is greatly to be preferred.
The first thing in float-fishing is to se-
lect a favorable part of the river, lake,
or pond, such as an eddy in the return
of a stream, or a piece of deep water in
the neighborhood of bushes or trees
where trout or salmon are known to
haunt, or a deep still pool probably
well stocked with fish. The next thing
is to ascertain the depth at various parts
of the stream by means of a leaden
plummet, to be obtained at all the best
fishing-tackle stores, and note the
depth of each particular part of the
pool upon a tablet, if the memory is
not adequate to the understanding, so
as to be able to shift the float accord-
ing as the depth varies, without further
disturbing the water. It will even be
better if this operation be performed
the day before it is fished, or, at all
events, several hours beforehand. And
here, while speaking of the shyness of
game fish especially, we will call the
attention of all anglers to what we be-
lieve to be a fact, that in boat-fishing
the appearance and movement of the
craft have the effect, more or less, of
disturbing the fish, and have a tend-
ency to keep them at some distance
from it, at least till the boat is anchor-
ed, which it should be both at head
and stern, until everything is quiet.

The next thing to be done after
plumbing the depth is to fix the float
upon the line, so that the bait may be
suspended some distance (according to
circumstances, and the usual custom of
the water to be fished) from the bot-
tom, or a certain distance — say six or
eight feet — from the top of the water,
by passing the cap or ring of the float
over the hook, and then fixing it on the
quill of the float so as to embrace the
line firmly between them; or the float
may be fixed on the line in almost any
way the angler may choose, so that it is
secure and immovable. Sinkers of
shot, of greater or less weight, must be
attached to the line eight or nine inch-
es or a foot above the hook, according
to the size of the float, and the depth
and strength of the current, or no cur-
rent at all; keeping in mind that they
must be so regulated as just to retain
the float in an upright position, with
half its body above the surface of the
water, without being either so light as
to allow it to assume a horizontal posi-
tion flat on the water, or so heavy as to
draw it under the surface. The best
plan is to fix a single small pellet about
ten inches above the hook, so as to keep
the bait down without being so con-
spicuous as to cause alarm, and then
affix larger ones at some distance above
it, sufficient to retain and properly bal-
ance the float in the right position.

The longer the rod is the better, as
its tip must be held if possible nearly
perpendicularly over the float; hence,
the longer it is, the greater will be the
extent of water under command. It
may then be eighteen feet with advan-
tage, provided it be made of cane, or
some other light material, so as to be
easily managed, without wearying the
arms; and the line between the tip of
rod and the float should not exceed six
or eight feet in length, which ought to

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

187

be kept constantly nearly taut, in order
to enable a fish to be struck and firmly
hooked with the necessary quickness
and precision. Should the fisher have
an eye toward the frying-pan, as well
as the sport, we should recommend him
to attach another hook, with a foot and
a half staging, eighteen inches above
the end hook. If the latter is baited
with the tail of a boiled shrimp (sup-
posing the angler were fishing in Lake
Merced or Lake San Andreas), and the
second one with a small fish or a worm,
etc., the fish will have a variety from
which to choose, and there will be two
chances for one. As in float-fishing
the angler is compelled, if he has n.
boat, to stand so near the water as to
hold the tip of his rod vertically, or
as nearly as he can, over the float, it can
only be successfully practiced in pretty
deep or opaque water, where both the
sportsman, rod, and float will be invis-
ible to the fish at or near the bottom.
A good stiff breeze to produce a rough-
ish curl on the surface is also a materi-
al auxiliary ; while in lakes or waters
destitute of a current it imparts motion
to the bait by its pressure on the line.

As to striking — when a fish seizes the
bait, the fact is instantly announced by
the float being drawn beneath the sur-
face, when, if it is retained decidedly
down, he is to be immediately struck,
and either landed at once, or otherwise
properly played until he succumbs.
But in the case of salmon or trout,
when they are only shyly on the feed,
it seldom happens that they at once
gorge a bait on the first attack upon it,
but will very frequently merely seize it
by the extremity two or three times in
succession, and so suddenly relinquish
their hold, before they do so, when
they must not be struck until the float
is decidedly retained for four or five
seconds below the surface of the water.

MISSING A FISH.

The water was heavy, and no mis-
take, and as it dashed round the rock
on which I stood, I rather hesitated
whether to try that particular pool or
not; for I knew by bitter experience
the difficulty of following a fish, should
he, as most probably he would, take
down stream. However, I did the
plucky, and in a few minutes my blue-
bodied fly was swinging across the
pool. Round it came floating on the
top of the stream ; so strong was the
current that it would not sink. Two
or three more throws, and then up
came a noble fellow, half of him show-
ing out of water as he boldly took my
fly; the line tightened, and the steel
struck home. A moment's pause as
we both prepared for the tussle, and
then off he dashed down stream. I
groaned as yard after yard raced out,
and I prepared to follow my friend in
his reckless career. Fortunately, be-
fore I had moved, he turned and came
straight back to me ; fast as I reeled
up, yet faster came the fish. I could
not step back so as to regain the touch,
and for a few agonizing moments I
thought he was off; but no, I suppose
the water kept the line taut, and pre-
vented the fly coming away, as too oft-
en'occurs in such a crisis; and I felt
that the link that connected us still
held good. Eagerly I watched the
line as it slowly moved round and
round the small pool, and made up my
mind, if possible, to keep my antago-
nist within his narrow bounds. A short
dash down was prevented by a little ex-
tra pressure. I dared not put on the
strain too hard, for I was fishing with
single gut, and that little thicker than
sewing gut. I began now to have
hopes of killing him, and was chuck-
ling over the idea of sending him home

188

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICDLTUKIST.

as a present to the friends I had left in
the morning, and so have the laugh on
my side; for of course they had made
merry at my rushing off so frantically.
" There's many a slip." The extra
pressure had evidently riled the fish,
and he made an angry dash up stream,
followed by a grand leap out of the wa-
ter; but he was, unfortunately, so close
under my rod at the time that I could
not slack sufficiently, the hold broke,
and my fly came back to me. As if in
derision, clear out of the water again
sprang my late antagonist. Was it my
fancy, or was there a wriggle of his tail,
and a cock of his eye, as much as to
say, "Sold again, old fellow!" But
this is, at times, the experience of all
anglers, and so, hard as the case was,
after a while I became reconciled to my
disappointment and sad mishap.

GOEDON SETTEES.

Mr. Kaeding, of the sporting firm of
Liddle & Kaeding, Washington Street,
has sent home to his partner, from Eu-
rope, which he is now visiting, two of
the above famous and much prized
black-and-tan setters, a dog and bitch,
Belt and Bell, the latter of which has
had a fine litter of pups since her arriv-
al. Both are good, staunch, well-brok-
en dogs, and first-rate retrievers. This
breed is the latest and most favored
and fashionable of sporting dogs. The
specimens at Messrs. Liddle & Kaed-
ing's are as thoroughbred and stylish as
can be found anywhere. One of this
breed took the first prize at the dog
show in Baltimore, in January last.
The pups are by the famous Gordon
setter Fritz, owned by Edward Howe,
Esq., of Princeton, N. J. The editor
of that first of sporting papers in this
country, the Forest and Stream, of New
York, thus speaks of this noble strain

of dogs : ' ' The true Gordon setter
should be, if a dog, not less than twen-
ty-three inches high; if a bitch, not
less than twenty inches high ; coat,
wavy and soft, by no means curly. A
curly-coated Gordon setter, although
he may be a good dog, yet such a coat
would detract materially from his beau-
ty, besides indicating a cross with some
other strain. He should have a straight
tail ; ears should be long, reaching to
the end of the hair at the nose. Deep
black and rich tan is the most&pproved
color, but we have seen some very beau-
tiful tri-colored dogs — black, tan, and
white — which we knew were thorough-
bred Gordons, and is a color we very
much admire, as such are more easy to
be seen while working in cover." Two
of the pups of the above named bitch at
Messrs. Liddle &Kaeding's vary a little
from the rest of the litter, one being all
tan, and the other a mixture of white
and black and tan.

EIFLE SHOOTING.

A military rifle-shooting match took
place at San Bruno, between the Na-
tional Guard and the San Francisco
Fusileers, 20 men of each company be-
ing selected to fire 7 scoring and 2
sighting shots at the 200-yards target,
under the usual conditions. It result-
ed in a victory for the Nationals by a
score of 561 to 509. The Nationals
made a fraction over 80 per cent., and
the Fusileers made almost 73 per cent.
The highest score made on the side of
the Nationals was by Jeff. Pascoe, 31
out of a possible 35, and F. Hageman,
of the Fusileers, made the same figure.

The following is the record of shoot-
ing of the first class of the National
Guard for the company medal: Distan-
ces, »200 and 500 yards; possible grand
total, 70; Charles Nash, 59; L. P. Peck,

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

189

56; Charles A. Dunn, 56; Frank Walton,
55; E. N. Snook, 53; H. F. Muller,
53; S. N. Morris, 53; A. H. Hentz, 52;
P. H. McElkinny, 50; Charles Burgans,
50; J. E. Klein, 50.

The Sumners had target practice, to
establish the status of their applicants
for admission to the regimental team
to contend for the Rifle Association's
medal on the 8th and 9th of June.
Carson made 170 points in 40 shots, at
200 yards, the highest number yet
reached by any marksman shooting
that number of shots consecutively.

SALMON AND TROUT FISHING.

Here is a little information for the
disciples of Izak "Walton, and advice
as to where to go at this time for the
finest fishing streams and lakes in this
State. Take the morning train from
here to Redding, stay at the hotel over
night, take stage at 6 o'clock in the
morning, and you are landed at U. S.
Fisheries at 9J o'clock in the morning.
Good accommodations can be had at
Myron Green's house at the rate of two
dollars per day. Fish are now biting
splendidly, and are to be caught in
large quantities. The varieties are the
splendid Dolly Varden and red-sided
trout; also, salmon in abundance. They
take readily to the spoon baits, which
can be had of Liddle & Kaeding, 538
Washington Street, who has just re-
ceived from England an immense stock
of spoons and artificial baits in endless
variety.

In seven or eight years' time from
the seed, Eucalyptus trees would grow
to a sufficient size to yield a good per
cent, on the money invested in the land
and cost of cultivation, and this without
considering its hygienic properties in
miasmatic districts.

mitmwX gortfaUa.

OUR FRONTISPIECE.

We both value and admire California
so highly that we like to illustrate her
splendid scenery and industries. This
induces us to give this month, as our
frontispiece, River-bed Mining. Our
picture, besides displaying a grand bit
of a mountainous view, presents river-
mining for gold in the bed of a river,
below low-water mark. Mr. Hittell, of
the Alta, once a miner, thus speaks of
river-mining in his Resources of Califor-
nia: " The only practicable method of
doing this is by damming the stream,
and taking the water out of its bed in a
ditch or flume. The flume, the ditch,
and the wing-dam are the chief tasks of
the river miner. The ditch is rarely
used, because the banks of the mining-
streams are usually so steep, high,
rocky, and crooked, that a flume is
cheaper. The wing-dam is not often
used, because the river-beds are in
most places too narrow. The flume, as
in the engraving, is almost universally
employed. This can be done only dur-
ing the summer and fall, while the wa-
ter is low, and while the miner can
have confidence that it will not rise.
River-mining has many disadvantages,
as compared with other branches of
mining. Work can not be done usual-
ly more than half of the year, and ex-
pensive dams and flumes have to be
erected. These disadvantages, and the
exhaustion of most of the river diggings
in the State, have almost put an end to
it. A river is seldom flumed for less
than 300 yards, and sometimes for a
mile. This kind of mining is now nev-
er undertaken by an individual, but al-
ways by large associations, generally
called 'fluming companies,' some-
times composed of miners exclusively,

190

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

sometimes of miners and all the princi-
pal business men living near the place
where the work is to be done."

A VISIT TO OAKLAND.

In a late trip to this charming suburb
of our great and rapidly advancing me-
tropolis, we called at Mr. Harmon's
beautiful residence, conservatories, and
gardens, on Lake Merritt, and two
blocks from Telegraph Avenue. The
delightful and flourishing condition of
these attractive grounds is very much
due to the arrangements, management,
and taste of Mr. Eichard Turnbull, the
intelligent gardener employed by the
enterprising and enthusiastic proprie-
tor. Mr. Turnbull is not contented in
walking, however ably and effectively,
in the more common track of horticult-
ural routine and practice, but seems
much inclined to enter into new and in-
teresting fields of experiment in his
fascinating profession. Not satisfied
with confining many plants, which are
considered by general cultivators to be
chiefly suited to the greenhouse, he is
experimenting with them outside or in
open air culture. Some of these are
the Ixoras, Ericas or Heaths, and
Azaleas. For success in this regard
the principal requirements he considers
are plenty of sun, water, and air. He
also states that he has good reason to
believe that all the varieties of the Can-
nas, such as G. tricolor and G. discolor,
and which bear handsome flowers as
well as very large and showy leaves,
can be made excellent and healthy ob-
jects for outside planting and decora-
tion. "We observe that Mr. Turnbull,
since we visited him last year, has ob-
tained a plant — the Forsythia viridissi-
ma — which we recommended to his no-
tice, as making a handsome display of
bright yellow flowers all along its

branches, and at first without showing
any leaves, early in the spring.

We observed in a warm frame a va-
riegated - leaved plant — the Sonerila
Margaritacea alba — a rare and desirable
stove plant, which, owing to some dif-
ficulty in its transportation, has never
been exhibited here before. Its leaves
are of the darkest green, and are plen-
tifully filled with snow-white spots. It
is well adapted for hanging baskets,
and grows with great luxuriance, mak-
ing a most effective display. In the
conservatory we noticed a fine plant of
the Passion-flower (Passiflora sanguino-
lenta), which makes a splendid show of
its flaming red blossoms.

The Gymnogrammas are great favor-
ites with Mr. Turnbull, but are not much
adapted for outside culture. We ob-
served a fine plant of G. laucheana, the
best Fern in cultivation, and highly es-
teemed for decorative purposes; its
fronds furnished with abundance of
bright yellow powder, and curving or
arching in the most graceful manner.

On the south side of these charming
premises, and forming a screen to the
kitchen or vegetable garden, is .a fine
shrubbery of some rare and lovely
trees and plants, among which we ob-
served a thorn (Crataegus) with fine rose-
colored double flowers.

A FEW HORTICULTURAL ITEMS FROM
THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION.

The correspondent we deputized to
represent the Horticulturist at the
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition
writes us privately as follows, hoping
to send us a full description at a later
period. The letter is dated May 29th.
She says: " I mustered up the courage
to-day to present my credentials for a
pass. I was very politely received by
the gentleman in attendance, Mr. Flan-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

191

agan, who besides my pass gave me a
letter of introduction to the club called
the Ladies of '76, who have a room in
the House of Public Comfort. He
mentioned several other California
places he wished me to be introduced
to, and I will soon visit the Exhibition
in earnest, and systematically. Two
'press' gentlemen before me merely
handed their cards as editors, but were
promptly refused. They must have the
papers properly made out, and present-
ed personally. Mine is all ready for
the official stamp around the photo-
graph, which will be put on when I go
in again. The most wonderful, and
worth double the admission fee, is a
canvas pavilion, a quarter of a square
[and Philadelphia blocks or squares are
larger than ours] in length, devoted to
different kinds of blooming Rhododen-
drons from Surrey, England. There
are more than a thousand plants — all in
perfect bloom, and of all colors, from
the darkest to the most delicate tints.
The bunch of blooms is the size of a
large cocoanut. They were closely
packed in boxes, and when they arrived
here the buds were as large as peas. A
full sized bud is as large as a fist. The
Horticultural Hall appears to be small,
and all the plants are crowded. We
had a splendid view of the grounds
from its roof; they will be perfect in a
few months, when the "seedlings first
planted will have their full growth.
They are now taking up the bulbs. The
grounds looked gorgeous, with their
beds of Tulips, Crocuses, and Hyacinths
of all colors in full bloom. Some of
the rooms in the Art Gallery are filled
with unpacked cases. It will be a
month before it can be put in order."

NEW FRUITS.

Oregon Champion Goosebeeey. — This
is a cross between the Crown Bob (En-
glish) and Houghton Seedling (Amer-
ican) varieties. The fruit from which
the seed was obtained grew and inter-
mingled on the grounds of Dr. P.
Prettyman, Multnomah County, Ore-
gon, in the year 1869. This new vari-
ety was selected from about 500 seed-
lings, when they came into bearing at
the age of five years. It ripens early;
is entirely free from mildew; is a thrifty
grower, and a most prolific bearer.
Mr. H. W. Prettyman, of the Railroad
Nurseries, writes: " I have gathered
from a single plant of this variety, four
years old, three and a half gallons of
berries at one gathering. The fruit is
but two-thirds as large as the Crown
Bob, is of a pale whitish color, and is
perfectly transparent when ripe.

Lawton Peach. — This Peach was
raised by Mr. C. W. Lawton, of Seat-
tle, in Washington Territory. The
fruit is very large and handsome, rip-
ens early, is of excellent quality, and
promises to be a great acquisition to
our fruit collections. Was raised from
seed imported from England.

NEW CHERRIES.

Some authors are now disputing the
virtues of warm water for house plants.

Majoe Eeancis. — Originated by the
Messrs. B. Walling & Son, Willamette
Nursery, Oregon. Fruit very large,
black, rich flavor, fine; ripens just be-
fore the Black Tartarian; one of the
best Cherries in their time; tree vigor-
ous and productive. Took the first
premium two years in succession over
all the other Cherries.

Willamette. — A seedling from the
Royal Ann (Napoleon Bigarreau); fruit
very large, light red color; sweet; late.
A good market variety,

192

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Lewelling. — Raised by Mr. Seth
Lewelling, Milwaukee, Oregon. Rip-
ens with or a little after the Napoleon
Bigarreau ; fruit very | large, shining
black; flesh very solid and firm; *fine;
a good keeper, and will bear transpor-
tation a long distance. Tree a stout,
vigorous grower; comes into bearing
early; a profitable market variety.

FEUIT CULTIVATION AND EEPOET OF
FEUIT AND VEGETABLE MAEKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEB.

In our last report on fruit cultivation
and the market we referred to the suc-
cessful cultivation of the English Goose-
berry free from mildew, by a cultivator
in Napa Valley. Some of the reasons
were given for this unusual success
with that fruit. Thomas Meehan, of
Philadelphia, an eminent horticulturist,
at the session at Chicago in 1875 of
the American Pomological Society, in
a talk upon fungi and fruit diseases,
speaking of the Gooseberry mildew,
states that "this attacked certainly
healthy trees, though, like the leaf
blight on seedling Pears, it never was
troublesome except where the soil was
heated to a higher temperature than
75°. If cornstalks, stones, or even old
boots and shoes, as I have seen, are
piled up under a Gooseberry bush, so
as to keep the soil cool, it will never
mildew." We are ready to admit that
this coolness of the soil may be one of
the causes of prevention of this devas-
tating evil, but this is by no means the
only one. We regard the great depth
and friability of the soil, its natural
adaptation to the fruit, and its strength
from plentiful animal and vegetable
manuring, which principles were ener-
getically carried out by the proprietor
spoken of in Napa Valley, as the main
reasons of the mildew being fought off

there; but the temperature also had,
probably, a good deal to do with it,
and although the soil in the rather
warm valley of Napa, to the depth of
one or two feet, in summer is over 75
degrees, still below that depth it is not
likely that it is over that amount, and
the cultivation by subsoiling and trench-
ing was at least four feet on the place
referred to. So much as regards the
triumph in this instance in warding off
this terrible mildew nuisance. Let it,
however, be here understood that the
Houghton variety, a native American
seedling, and all the improved kinds
derived from or similar to it, is seldom,
if ever, affected by this sad pest to this
useful and pleasant fruit.

In the culture of orchards it has now
been discovered with absolute certainty
by the most experienced pomologists,
that the roots of trees in many cases
have been found to extend to a much
greater distance than the entire height
of the trees. In consequence of this
fact it is desirable to plow over, though
not too deeply, the whole surface of the
ground of the orchard. But little ad-
vantage can result from the common
practice of spading circles about fruit-
trees which stand in grass — unless the
circles are very large, and for the first
year or two after transplanting, while
the roots are comparatively short.
Broad cast culture and broad cast ma-
nuring should be given to the whole
surface of the orchard, unless, to save
labor, small portions of grass are left at
the foot of the trunk in horse cultiva-
tion. When the subsoil is hard and
poor, and nearly all the fertility of the
land lies within a few inches of the top,
it becomes more important to cultivate
shallow. But if the soil be deep and
rich the cultivation may be much deep-
er. When the roots of trees are near
the surface, top dressing with manure

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

193

is more essential than when the roots
run two or three feet under the top of
the ground. Using manure has com-
paratively little effect on trees "when
old. When trees are very thrifty and
make rank growth, it is well to seed
the land in some kind of grass — say Al-
falfa; but if they are feeble in growth,
vigor must be imparted by cultivation
or manuring, or both. In the fresh
and generally strong soil of California,
backed by a favorable climate and tem-
perature all the year round, top dress-
ing at present is not much needed.
Plowing once and harrowing several
times will not cost here so much as a
plentiful top dressing, which, to do any
considerable good, is necessary. No
grass should he allowed to grow with
young or newly set fruit trees. All
plants when crowded are checked in
vigor. Cultivation of fruit should, of
course, vary with the condition of the
soil and locality. Cultivation should
be performed early in the spring, and
not after the trees are in leaf, unless
the soil is very rich and deep.

About the 10th of last month (May),
there was a grand succession of fine
Strawberries in market, it being near
the height of the season for them, and
their price became, consequently, quite
moderate — about 10 to 15 cts. per box,
or "pottle," as they call a certain sim-
ilar receptacle for them in England,
when retailed to the public. Straw-
berries are plentiful, and of good size
and color this spring. Great quanti-
ties of them are seen in all the fruit
stores, and are sold in the streets. The
arrivals about the middle of May were
very abundant and free, a very fair
article being obtained at 12 to 15 cts.
per lb. Some very fine fruit of the
British Queen variety, a sort much
larger than the Longworth Prolific,
sold at 20 and 25 cts. Finer kinds of

Cherries were coming forward, and the
outside quotation advanced to $1 per
lb. Apples were scarce at $2 50 to $4
per box. A further decline took place
in all kinds of vegetables. Old Pota-
toes were cheaper, and the best could
be had by the single sack at $1 50 to
$1 75 per 100 lbs., delivered. New
Potatoes were scarce and firm at 4 to 5
cts. per lb.

About the middle of last month (May)
Apricots came into market for the first
time this season, and to add to the va-
rieties of fruit already in. They came
from Solano County, and were sold at
50 cts. per lb. They are much improv-
ed in ripeness and flavor by being plac-
ed in a drawer or closet for two or three
days. It mellows them very nicely.
Strawberries were in great plenty, and
with Cherries and green Gooseberries
became cheaper. Cherries were be-
coming plentiful, and were sold at low-
er rates than is usual at this early peri-
od of the season. In some locations,
owing to frost, there had been short
crops of them. By the box of 4 lbs.
Strawberries retailed at 35 to 50c. It
should be generally understood that
nearly all fruits in unbroken packages
can be had considerably below the
rates given in the retail market report
or table published on May 19th. "We
have never seen Cherries packed so
handsomely, closely, and regularly in
any other of the State's markets as in
San Francisco, and they are without
the least blemish from insects or any
kind of rot. The Black Tartarian and
Governor Wood are at present the larg-
est and most showy. Apples were
scarce at $2 50 to $4 per box.

At the vegetable stalls a further re-
duction in nearly all varieties of vege-
tables took place. New Potatoes were
more plentiful, and old were rapidly
being displaced by them. The first

194

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

new Early Rose arrived about the 19th
of May from the Sacramento River, and
retailed at 5c. per lb. The best old
Potatoes sold by the single sack, deliv-
ered, at $1 75 per 100 lbs.

Toward the end of May the market
stalls and stores in this city, in addi-
tion to the abundance of Strawberries,
began to make a good display of ripe
and unripe Currants and Gooseberries,
with some Raspberries. Currants re-
tailed at 25c, and Gooseberries at 60c.
per lb. The large English Gooseber-
ries from Napa Valley will be ripe
about the first or second week of this
month (June). These are very rare, as
they are seldom cultivated on account
of the difficulty of preventing the mil-
dew from settling on the fruit. Mr.
Sandercock, however, of Napa Valley,
about four miles from Napa City, suc-
ceeds in raising them free of this great
pest to that kind of fruit. The native
American kinds seldom have it.

The display at the vegetable stalls
increased at the end of last month (May)
by the addition of Green Corn and To-
matoes. The quantities received were,
however, small, and prices were corre-
spondingly high. New Potatoes were
more plentiful, and by the single sack
were obtainable at $2 50 to $3 50 per
100 lbs.

At the beginning of this month (June)
a few Green Pears and Apples arrived,
and one shipment of early Peaches, but
the supply will not be at all liberal un-
the middle of the month. Currants
were very abundant, and by the drawer
were obtainable at 5 to 8c. per lb. A
few Blackberries were offered at 75c,
and Cherry Plums at 50c per lb.

Vegetables were generally cheaper
under more liberal arrivals. Old Pota-
toes were neglected, and retailed by the
single sack at $1.25 to $1.50, New
were in demand at $2 to $3 per 100 lbs.

$(tftflrittl OStotttoflisi.

Transplanting. — There are few rural
people that do not know the import-
ance of cherishing every fibrous root
during the operation of transplanting
— but we have seen them — not unfre-
quently either — act as if they knew
nothing about it. Bundles of trees and
shrubs are received from the nurseries,
the bagging and straw torn off, and the
roots exposed to air and sun until the
last is planted — in which case "the
last shall ' not ' be first " only to die.
Evaporation goes on in a greatly in-
creasing ratio with the violence of the
wind — a great deal of heat is thus ren-
dered latent, and cold is produced up-
on the evaporating surface. Hence eth-
er produces cold in the hand by its
quick evaporation. Hence, in order to
hasten evaporation, we "blow" our
tea and coffee — at least those of us who
are lawless enough to do so. A high
wind, with the thermometer 10 above,
seems colder than a still air with 10 be-
low zero. The atmosphere of warmth
that radiates from all bodies is every
instant dissipated by wind, and its
place is every instant filled with fresh,
cold air. Hence it is that water per-
fectly quiet has been cooled to 15 with-
out solidifying — while if agitated it
freezes at once, and the thermometer
will register 32. And thus it is that
the fibres of roots — the minute, grow-
ing points — most serviceable in absorp-
tion, when exposed to sun and wind,
are dried to death in a few moments,
and the functions of the plant crippled
accordingly. Many catalogues recom-
mend in their ' ' Hints to Planters " to
shake a tree up and down while setting
it — a very simple and efficacious meth-
od of destroying these tender threads.
The earth presses hard upon them, and
a sudden jerk upward must wround and

THE CALIFOENIA HOBTICULTUEIST.

195

break, while the downward movement
must still further bend and entangle
them. If necessary to transplant dur-
ing windy or sunny days, protect the
roots every moment, and keep them
moist without an interval until the last
one is planted. — Rural New Yorker,

The New Papek Stock. — Okra, a spe-
cies of mallow from two to six feet high,
which grows profusely at the South,
and has heretofore served chiefly to
thicken soup with its pods, is on the
verge of promotion to higher uses. It
has been talked of for paper stock for
these twenty-five years, and has in fact
been successfully used for paper at va-
rious times since 1860, being one of the
comparatively few discoveries made at
the South. The first suggestion, that
the outer fibre of the plant could be
used was made by a French officer in
Algeria, but it was of no practical value,
this fibre bearing too small a proportion
to the whole plant to make it pay. Dr.
Bead, of Eichmond, Yirginia, first dis-
covered the adaption of the whole plant
to paper-making, and patented his dis-
covery, eleven years ago; since then sev-
eral northern mills have tried it, and a
Mobile mill makes a good enough paper
to use for newspapers, so that the Mobile
Register printed an edition on it. The
only reason that the manufacture has not
been prosecuted is the lack of material,
and it is yet to be introduced to any ex-
tent, even in the South. It would make
a profitable field crop, and will grow in
any part of the Union. It requires a
pressure in bleach -boiling stronger than
is necessary for any stock now used, in
order to have the paper white, and boil-
ers would have to be constructed with
reference to this. The paper is remark-
ably tough, and in this respect better
than almost any other now used for
newspapers.

The Natural Age oe Fecit Trees. —
It seems to be the common belief that
there is no limit to the natural age of
Apple-trees. But this is certainly a
mistake. We all know that the Peach-
tree fails to be profitable at twelve to
fifteen years of age, and the Cherry
and the Plum average only twenty to
thirty years; the Pear, in favorable cir-
cumstances, forty to fifty years — in rare
cases a much longer time. So, also,
the Apple-tree has its natural limit,
and, although, like man's life, the du-
ration of the period of health and vig-
or varies greatly according to constitu-
tion, nurture, climate, etc., its ap-
proaching termination is clearly indi-
cated by signs of debility and disease.
On very deep and favorable soils, and
where trees are not damaged by the
severity of climate, Apple orchards are
found bearing fair crops of fruit at 70
to 100 years of age, but these are near-
ly as rare as for their owners to live so
long. Very few farms have soil of the
best kind for an orchard, and every-
where our climate is either too warm,
or at times too cold, for the health of
the trees. Injury by severe cold, black-
ening all the wood, except as new
growth is formed, I am convinced is a
very common cause of the failure of or-
chards; but starvation, in consequence
of exhaustion of the soil, is still more
common, and this is a more difficult
matter to remedy than most people sup-
pose, especially when trees have attain-
ed full bearing size.

Trees and Rain. — The bulletin of the
Torrey Botanical Club contains a sug-
gestive paragraph in reference to the
influence of trees upon rain and atmos-
pheric moisture, as shown by the expe-
rience of the island of Santa Cruz, in
the West Indies. This island is said to
have been a garden of freshness, beau-

196

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUMST.

ty and fertility twenty years ago; it was
covered with woods, trees were every-
where abundant, and rains were profuse
and frequent. The recent visit of a
gentleman who had known the island
in its palmier days revealed a lament-
able change, one-fourth of the island
have become an utter desert. The for-
ests and trees had been cut away, rain-
falls had ceased, and the process of des-
iccation, beginning at one end of the
island, had advanced gradually and ir-
resistibly upon the land, until for seven
miles it had become as dry and barren
as the seashore. Houses and planta-
tions had been abandoned, and the ad-
vance of desolation was watched by the
people, wholly unable to prevent it, but
knowing almost to a certainty the time
when their own habitations, their gar-
dens and fresh fields would be a part
of the waste. Indeed, the whole island
seemed doomed to become a desert.
This sad result is owing entirely, ac-
cording to the belief of the inhabitants,
to the destruction of the trees upon the
island some years ago.

Lopping away Large Limbs. — It is
well to improve the fruit of our or-
chards by grafting, but too often is the
tree destroyed thereby. A healthy tree,
ten to twenty years old, the usual char-
acter of trees grafted, standing on good
soil, is valuable property, and there-
fore the laws of life that govern trees
should be well mastered by the grafter.
A tree may be hurled to destruction in
a half hour or even less; but twelve to
twenty-five years may be required to
grow its like again, and that with much
care and expense. The main cause in
killing trees by grafting, is in cutting
away too much wood at a time. When
a tree is thus robbed too much of its
wood, it loses its power to draw the
sap of the whole roots, and so its func-

tions of life are impaired, and soon
death may set in. Large limbs can
not be cut from the tree without se-
verely hurting it. Do not, then, com-
mit an onslaught on your trees by a
wholesale cutting with the grafting saw.
Better consume two or three years to
change the fruit of your trees than to
lose it entirely, or lose its usefulness.
Graft small limbs. It is better to put
in more grafts than to cut a large limb.
Cutting should be seldom done where
the limb is over two inches thick.

Seeds Germinating in Ice. — Having
observed that seeds of Acer planatoides
and Triticum, which happened to have
come into an ice cellar with some
blocks of ice, had germinated between
these, M. Uloth was led to experiment
on the subject. He placed seeds of va-
rious species in grooves made in ice
blocks (inclosed in cases), over which
he laid plates of ice, and kept the
whole in an ice cellar. Other similar
seeds were sown in earth surrounded
by ice. The cases were placed in Jan-
uary, and observed in March and May.
A number of seeds germinated, and
those of cruciferce and graminece seem-
ed to do so with special facility. Those
in ice and those in earth seemed to ger-
minate pretty equally. The roots pen-
etrated into the ice (in the former case)
and an interesting question arose as to
how this occurred. M. Uloth consid-
ers that the process was facilitated by
the heat liberated in growth of the
root, melting the ice. M. Sachs thinks
that the ice (in the original case, which
suggests these experiments), being sur-
rounded by warmer bodies, these may
have heated the roots by radiation; but
M. Uloth points out that in his experi-
ments the ice was too thick for this,
and if such a cause had operated, other
bodies frozen in the ice, such as straw

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

197

and wood chips, would have got heated
and sunk in the ice, which was not the
case. — Boston Journal of Chemistry.

A Murderous Sea Flower. — One of
the exquisite wonders of the sea is call-
ed the Opelet, and is about as large as
the German Aster, looking indeed very
much like one. Imagine a very large
double Aster, with ever so many long
petals of a light green, glossy as satin,
and each one tipped with rose color.
These lovely petals do not lie quietly
in their places, like those of the Aster
in your garden, but wave about in the
water, while the Opelet generally clings
to a rock. How innocent and lovely it
looks on its rocky bed! Who would
suppose that it could eat anything
grosser than dew or sunlight? But
those beautiful, waving arms, as you
call them, have another use besides
looking pretty. They have to provide
food for a large, open mouth, which is
hidden deep down among them — so
well hidden that one can scarcely find
it. "Well do they perform their duty,
for the instant a foolish little fish touch-
es one of the rosy tips, he is struck
with poison, as fatal as lightning. He
immediately becomes numb, and in a
moment stops struggling, and then the
other beautiful arms wrap themselves
around him, and he is drawn into the
huge, greedy mouth, and is seen no
more. Then the lovely arms unclose
and wave again in the water, looking
as innocent and harmless as though
they had never touched a fish.

To Start Cuttings. — Cuttings of a
great many plants can be readily start-
ed in water; and, in the early spring,
if you have not a green-house or hot-
bed, it is the safest plan. Fill small
bottles or vials with warmish water, re-

move the lower leaves of the cuttings
and put them in the water; hang up
the vial to the window sash, tying a
string about the mouth for this pur-
pose. If cotton wool is put around
the mouth of the vial, it will prevent
the evaporation of the water and make
the roots sprout more quickly by keep-
ing up a more even temperature. Ole-
anders can be rooted in this manner;
also Heliotropes, Verbenas, Fuchsias,
Koses, and all kinds of bedding-out
plants. The process is so simple that a
child can succeed with it. As soon as
the roots are an inch long, the cuttings
should be transplanted, taking care to
spread out the tiny rootlets as they
grew in the water. Some fill up the
bottle with rich earth, let it dry off for
two or three days and then break the
glass, arid pot or plant out the cutting
without disturbing its roots in the least
degree. This is the most certain way
of obtaining plants from cuttings.

Give Tour Flowers Plenty of Room.
A lady correspondent of the Country
Gentleman, speaking of her flower gar-
den, warns those who are starting one
against ' ' too great an economy of
space." She writes: "I once fancied
it a great waste of ground to sow Aster
seeds an inch apart, as a friend said I
ought, but thought five or six seeds to
the inch better; the flowers can be im-
agined! I learned by experience, how-
ever, that twelve inches were better
than one!" In transplanting, always
select brilliant colored flowers, as Ver-
bena, Phlox Drummondii, Petunias,
Portulacca and other low growing bed-
ding plants, for effect on the lawn or
the borders; and where you have a
chance for massing more in the back-
ground, French Marigold, Zinnia, Dah-
lia, Gladiolus, etc., may be used. If
you want to cover a fence or trellis,

198

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Morning Glory, Madeira Vine, or some
other strong growing vine will give sat-
isfaction, while the more delicate and
airy Cypress Vine is always beautifully
trained to a sharp cone made of two
circles fastened to the' top and bottom
of a rod and interlaced with twine.

A Gigantic Flower. — The new Aroid,
Amorphophallus Rivieri, bears what an
unscientific observer of nature would
term a flower, measuring two feet ten
inches long by a foot broad. But sci-
entifically speaking, this gigantic pro-
duction is not a true flower any more
than the white spathe of the common
Calla Lily is its flower, although gener-
ally referred to as such. The flowers
of such plants are quite minute and sit-
uated on the spadix or central organ,
while the outer and more showy parts
are little more than a leaf-like envel-
ope to which botanists have given the
name of spathe. The Amorphophallus
referred to above is a giant among the
pigmies in this family; but we must
say it is more curious than beautiful.
The fetid odor emitted from the open-
ing spathe is simply intolerable, re-
sembling that given off from putrid an-
imal matter. The plant dies after it
blooms, and is produced from small
offsets of the old bulb, during previous
years. This new Aroid is a handsome
bedding plant, with a large, showy, di-
vided leaf ; but when the bulbs reach a
blooming size they may be cast aside
unless one is curious to see what a re-
pulsive monstrosity nature can produce
in the way of a flower.

Disease of Oranges and Lemons
South. — There is an excitement in the
southern part of the State on account
of the appearance of a disease that has
seriously injured many Orange and

Lemon orchards, and has also attack-
ed several other kinds of valuable trees.
The supposition that the harm was done
by an insect has not been confirmed so
far. Mr. C. M. Kinne, Secretary of the
Microscopical Society, found that the
bug regarded as the cause of the evil is
an acarus which has no organs fitted
for boring into healthy wood or bark,
and is a scavenger that clears away ma-
terial previously diseased. The cause
of and remedy for the disease are still
to be found. The happy days when
no troublesome insects or diseases were
known to the grain and fruit trees of
California have past. We have now
the weevil in Wheat, an acarus in Bar-
ley, the Peach-tree worm on our Peach-
trees, the scale bug on our Orange-trees,
the root pest in Orange, Lemon, and
Olive orchards, and the mildew and
phylloxera in our vineyards. The cur-
culio and the Apple worm are happi-
ly still strangers to us.

Centennial Trees. — It is late to talk
about Centennial tree planting; but as
it will be in order all the year, we shall
have fall planting as well as spring,
and any advice that comes too late now
may do for next autumn. There are
two ways to find out the longest lived
trees; one way is to follow the prece-
dent of the man who bought a raven, to
prove by experiment the truth of the
assertion that it would live a hundred
years. The other is, to ascertain the
oldest trees that have been felled by
counting the rings, and thus generaliz-
ing. Dr. Warder writes us, that Black
Walnut, for good logs, grow 150 to 200
years. White Oak and Burr Oak get
to be 200 to 300 years. The Tulip-tree
of India, 300 to 400 years. But for
a tree that will last you through, and
not die on your hands of old age, take
the Southern Cypress, which gets to be

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

199

a thousand years or so old. Unlike
ourselves, Dr. Warder says, plant any
and every sort for Centennial trees.
" Be aye sticking in a tree." But for
ourselves we want to plant this year
trees that we can feel sure we shall see
in 1976.

Vegetable Ivory. — The demand for
the Ivory nut has so increased in the
German market that its price has nearly
doubled within a short time. The nut
is the fruit of one of tbe most beautiful
of all the palms. The tree (Prytelephas
Macrocarpa) is a native of South Ameri-
ca, particularly of the Andean plains of
Peru, and of the shores of the river
Magdalena. The stem of the tree is
short, and lies prostrate on the ground;
but from its crown arises a tuft of light
green, pinnated leaves, of magnificent
size and beauty. They are described
as resembling immense ostrich plumes,
rising to the stately height of thirty or
forty feet. The fruit, which is as large
as a cocoanut, consists of an aggrega-
tion of leathery drupes, each containing
four triangular nuts, nearly as large as
a hen's egg. The kernels of the'se nuts,
when ripe, so completely simulate ivory
in color and consistency that they have
been adapted to many uses formerly
monopolized by the animal product.
Many articles manufactured from the
Ivory nut so resemble those made of
true ivory as to deceive the best judges.

Ashes and lime do not react upon
each other to form an insoluble com-
pound, when applied to the land, nor is
any injurious compound of any kind li-
able to be produced. Lime applied to
soil consisting mostly of oyster shells
could not do much good, unless the soil
contained also a considerable proportion
of organic matter as essential to the con-

stitution of a good healthy soil, and if
there is already in the beginning less
than this proportion, the addition of
lime will reduce it and do no harm.
Liming without manuring will impov-
erish any soil, sooner or later; the soon-
er, the smaller the quantity of plant
food that there is in it to start with. On
a very sandy soil lime is said to be able
to form a sort of mortar with the sand.
In one or both of these considerations
it seems possible to find a good reason
why you should think lime is working
very unfavorably on your very sandy
soil.

To Preserve Strawberries "Whole. —
To every pound of Strawberries take
three-quarters of a pound of sugar.
Put the Strawberries into a large plat-
ter and put half of the sugar over them,
letting them stand over night. Next
morning drain off the juice from the
platter, add to it one quart of Currant
juice, and the remainder of the sugar.
Boil and skim this until no refuse scum
rises, then drop in the Strawberries
(only enough at one time to cover the
surface of the preserving kettle), and
let them simmer for about eight min-
utes. Skim them out into jars, and
scald the rest of the berries in the same
way. Then boil up the syrup and pour
it over the berries. The tart flavor of
the Currant juice is a great improve-
ment to the preserved Strawberries. —
Springfield Republican.

Bee Destroyers. — A correspondent,
writing from San Diego, says that the
apiarists in that section are annoyed by
common ants of various sizes. The
skunks, very numerous in that section,
are also troublesome, and their mode of
attack is somewhat peculiar. They are
very fond of bees, and approaching the

200

THE CALIFORNIA HOBTICULTUKIST.

hive, they tap on it, and when the bees
come out they immediately swarm over
the animal, and when a number of them
have lodged in the hair the skunk de-
camps, and when a safe distance away
it rolls over and over on the ground till
the bees are killed, when the animal
proceeds to dine off the dainty dish.
The best guard against ants, which are
more to be feared than any other ene-
my, is to place the hive on a raised
table, the legs of which are to be set in
cans filled with water. If the water in
the cans is not allowed to fill up with
sticks, so that the ants can walk over,
this will stop their inroads.

A well-grown evergreen tree gives off
warmth and moisture continually that
reach a distance of its area in height,
and when tree planters advocate shelter
belts surrounding a tract of orchards of
fifty or more acres, when the influence
of such belts can only reach a distance
of the height of the trees in them, they
do that which will prove of little value.
To ameliorate climate, and help the
germ-bud of fruit in the spring, all
orchards should have evergreen trees
planted in and among the apple trees,
at a distance of not more than one hun-
dred and fifty feet apart. Such a course
pursued will give health to the trees,
and be productive of more uniform crop
of fruit.

Growing Chestnut -trees. — If you
want to grow Chestnut-trees, the fruit
must be planted as soon as it is perfect-
ly ripe and while it is in its fresh state.
If a few trees only are wanted, plant
the Chestnut about three inches deep,
just where it is desired to have the tree
stand permanently. They do better
not to be transplanted, and sometimes
will not grow. When they reach a

proper height the stems can be grafted
with any better sorts attainable. But
it requires a careful hand to graft the
Chestnut to insure its growth. When
fairly started, the young tree pushes
ahead rapidly, and often takes one by
surprise in the earliness of its bearing.

Soot Tea. for Roses. — Get some soot
from a chimney or stove where wood is
used for fuel, put it in an old pitcher,
and pour hot water upon it. When
cool use it to water your plants every
few days. When it is all used fill up
the pitcher again with hot water. The
effect upon plants, especially upon Ro-
ses that have almost hopelessly deterior-
ated, is wonderful in producing a rapid
growth of thrifty shoots, with large
thick leaves, and a great number of
richly-tinted Roses. Never despair of
a decayed Rose-bush until this has been
tried.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,
Fob the Month ending May 31, 1876.

(Prepared for The Hokticultueist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
18 Market Street.)

BAEOMETEB.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.11 in.

do 12m 30.11

do 3p.m 30.10

do 6p.m 30.09

Highest point on the 1st at 9 a. m. and 12 m 30.!

Lowest point on the 31st at 6 p. m 29.93

THEEMOMETEB.

( With north exposure and free from reflected heat.)

Mean height at 9 a. m 60°

do 12 m 66°

do 3 P. M 65°

do 6 P. m 60°

Highest point on the 7th at 3 p. m 86c

Lowest point on the 19th at 6 p. m 52°

SELF-BEGISTEBING THEEMOMETEB.

Mean height during the night 46°

Highest point at sunrise on the 8th 52°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 16th 41°

WINDS.

North and north-west on 3 days; south-west on
days; east and north-east on 6 days; west on 18 days.

WEATHEB.

Clear all day 21 days; cloudy all day 3 days; variable
on 7 days; rain on 1 day.

BAIN GAUGE. Inches.
19th 0.18

Total 0.18

Previously reported 25.81

Total for the season 25.99

?

LADIOLUS,

Tritoma Uyaria

T

OMATOES.

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI.

SAN FRANCISCO, JULY, 1876.

No. 7.

THE STUDY OF XATUKAL HISTOEY.

BY A LOVER OF NATURE.

The now steady diffusion of taste for
the study of natural history in this
country is extremely gratifying. It is
this study which teaches us to look up
from nature to the great Author of it.
Nature is infinitely diversified, and yet
each production makes its appearance
at the time and under the circumstanc-
es which we should be led to expect.
A plan so perfect and harmonious, of
which the parts are so varied, and yet
so mutually promote the existence of
each other — which blend the sea, the
land, and the air into one whole, and,
though always perishing, are always
reproduced — offers a field of contempla-
tion which the longest life and the most
active mind can not begin to exhaust;
and it has the advantage over every
other subject of study — it presents or
awakens none of those inferior passions
and imperfections that present them-
selves when man and his works are the
objects of our inquiry.

It has these farther advantages, that
the study, instead of a labor, is a con-
stant delight; that the details are quite
as interesting as the whole; that the

Vol. VI.— 14.

subjects which are too small to be seen
by the naked eye are just as perfect in
all their parts, and as wonderful in the
use of them, as those which are of the
most huge dimensions. The little green
moss that is as a pin's point upon a
wall or the bark of a tree, or the fun-
gus that makes a barely visible speck
upon a leaf, is as perfect in its struct-
ure, and as full of life as the Oak or
the Pine that rises majestically over
the forest, and exhibits itself to an en-
tire country, or as a landmark for the
seaman. The aphis, which scarcely
crumples the Rose-leaf, or the animal-
culae, of which myriads do not render
a drop of water turbid, are as equally
complete, and in some respects much
more curious than the whale, the horse,
or the elephant. Of the aphis, nine
distinct generations, all females, suc-
ceed each other every summer, and yet
each produces a numerous progeny;
and some of the animalculse increase in
number by a spontaneous division .of
the little bodies of those previously ex-
isting.

In order to understand the subject,
we must, indeed, study the small as
well as the great, the common as well
as the rare. Nature is certainly seen

202

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

as wonderfully attentive to the welfare
of her minutest works as to her great-
est; and this leads us to the comforting
certainty and knowledge that we, as
human creatures, are regarded and
have beneficent laws to take care of us
(and which are to our interest to fol-
low), as the grandest worlds and their
inhabitants, if any, which comprise
the universe. The most uncommon
and majestic animals can not tell us
more than the worm we accidentally
trample under foot, or the caterpillar
which we destroy as a nuisance and
destroyer to our fruit and shade-
trees. Nor does the utility diminish
with the size. Silk, the finest material
with which we clothe ourselves; car-
mine, the most brilliant color which we
can use in. painting; and the very ink
with which we write, are all the pro-
ductions of little insects.

In contemplating the structure of
any plant or animal, however common,
and however on that account overlook-
ed or disregarded, we may find finer
applications of mechanical art, and nic-
er processes in chemistry, than the
collected art of which the whole human
race can boast. That the vegetable
principle in an acorn should be chem-
ist enough to fabricate Oak timber, and
bark, and leaves, and new acorns; and
mechanic enough to rear the tree in the
air against the natural tendency of
gravitation, and in spite of the violence
of the winds, and do all this by means
of a small portion of matter that can be
kept for a considerable time as if it
were dead, is truly astonishing. It is
equally demonstrative of power and
wisdom in Him or Nature which gave
the impulse,' that out of the same soil
and the same atmosphere, each plant
should elaborate that which properly
belongs to it; that the flower of one
plant should be crimson, that of the

next yellow; that one should delight
us with its perfume, and the very next
offend us with its fetor; or that food,
medicine, or a poison should be found
the closest neighbors.

In the single department of botany,
we have thus not only a fund of the
most curious and interesting informa-
tion, but of information which is prac-
tically useful at every step. Even from
the mere form of vegetables, we have
some of the choicest of our ornaments,
and have taken some of the most use-
ful hints in our architecture. The en-
gineers who first succeeded in fixing
upon dangerous rocks the many light-
houses that resist the violence of rag-
ing and stormy seas, have molded most
of their contours from the shape of the
boles of trees which have withstood the
tempests of ages, and the models have
been found so admirably adapted to
the purpose, that they have been cop-
ied in many similar cases throughout
the world.

The sure way to become naturalists,
in the most pleasing sense of the term,
is to closely observe the habits of the
plants, animals, and insects, etc., we
see around us, not so much with a view
of finding out what is new or uncom-
mon, as of becoming well acquainted
with what is of every day occurrence.
Nor is this a task of difficulty, or one
of dull routine. Every change of ele-
vation or of temperature is accompa-
nied by a variation both in plants and
animals ; and every season and week,
nay, almost every day, brings some-
thing new; so that while the book of
nature is so accessible, it is infinitely
more varied than the books of a libra-
ry. In whatever place or at whatever
time one may be so disposed to take a
walk in the most sublime scenes or on
the most barren or bleakest wastes, on
arid hills and mountains, or by the

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

203

margins of rivers or lakes, inland or by
the ocean shore, in the wild or on the
cultivated ground., and in all kinds of
■weather and at all seasons of the year
— some things in nature are ever fresh
and open to our inspection and inquir-
ies. The sky above us; the earth be-
neath our feet; the scenery around; the
animals that rove and gambol in the
open spaces ; those that hide them-
selves in the forests or in coverts; the
birds that flit and twitter on the wing,
sing in the woods, ride upon the waves,
or float along the sky; the fishes that
tenant the waters; the endless insects
that make the summer air alive; all that
Nature has made is to us for knowl-
edge, and pleasure, and usefulness, ad-
miration, and health ; and when we
have somewhat studied and become ac-
quainted with His workmanship, we
have made one important step toward
the adoration of His omnipotence and
wisdom, and learn through these His
natural laws, to be obedient to them or
to His will.

SPRINGS.

BY NATURALIST.

"Water that falls on the earth as rain
runs off the surface by rivers into the
sea, or is evaporated back again into
the atmosphere within a very short
time. The remaining part disappears.
It passes into the earth's crust, being
absorbed into the soil and surface rocks,
or entering the innumerable crevices and
fissures that exist in all rocks near the
surface. Making its way through per-
meable rocks, such as sand, or passing
into natural reservoirs or along some
underground channel, it circulates
through the earth for a time, longer or
shorter, according to circumstances,
and comes at length once more to the

surface. All water obtained or obtain-
able from the interior of the earth is
called spring water ; and all sourses of
water within the earth are called
springs. They differ in their nature
very considerably. Of ordinary springs
there are three kinds. Rain which can
not descend far into the earth through
loam or sand, on account of some close
or impermeable rock, forms springs
which are called land springs. They
are useful — for watering plants, for in-
stance— but they are too subject to im-
purities for drinking for man or beast.
If a water-bearing bed is reached by a
well sunk through an upper impermea-
ble covering, the water will rise to find
its level ; and in the case where the wa-
ter enters at a higher level than where
the well is sunk, it may rise up to or
even above the surface. Springs ob-
tained in this way are called artesian,
and were used in ancient Egypt. Wa-
ter must constantly be circulating
through natural fissures in the earth at
all depths, and at those depths where
the temperature is high the water will
become warm. Water that rises from,
or that passes through the earth, is not
chemically pure. Even rain is not pure,
for before it reaches the earth it absorbs
mineral matter from the atmosphere.
Mineral springs very frequently emerge
near volcanoes, and there is no known
volcanic region, past or present, in
which they are not found. The quan-
tity of water issuing from springs va-
ries, as might be supposed, to an al-
most indefinite extent. The tempera-
ture of mineral springs varies from
some degrees below the mean tempera-
ture of the place where they issue to
many degrees above the boiling point.
The hottest known are directly con-
nected with active volcanoes, and the
hot waters of the California Geysers
and Calistoga must be so connected,

204

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

although at a great distance off. Min-
eral waters may be expected to contain
all those substances which water in its
passage through the earth can find and
dissolve. Water is a universal solvent.
Still, the number of substances gener-
ally found in mineral springs in im-
portant quantities is very limited. A
small number of acids, and an equally
small number of bases reciprocally sat-
urating one another, completes the list.
"When the saturation is incomplete it is
always the acid that is in excess.

The following are the acids most
generally met with: carbonic, sulphur-
ic, hydrochloric, hydrobromic, hydri-
odic, nitric, phosphoric, boracic, and
arsenious. The following are the bas-
es: soda, potassa (rarely), lime, mag-
nesia, lithia, the oxides of rubidium
and ccesium, oxides of iron and man-
ganese. Besides these, are oxygen,
nitrogen, silica, alumina, and certain
nitrogenized substances. Besides the
mineral acids, organic acids are some-
times detected.

It has been stated that within the
limit of human observation, the tem-
perature of water coming from consid-
erable depths through natural fissures,
is, in each particular spring, invariable;
but there is no doubt that changes may
occur, and it is certain that in some in-
stances they do. They may be affected
by either drought or rain. Their qual-
ity may be also affected by the same
means, as we have discovered when
drinking the natural soda water from
Napa Soda Springs. In the rainy sea-
son it is weakest in minerals, in the
summer it is . most impregnated with
them. Napa Valley and Lake County,
which we visit every summer, abound
n springs, many of which are mineral.
There are the Calistoga Hot Springs,
long known to the Mexicans and In-
dians, and their curative qualities in

some diseases have been long known.
These waters hold in solution sulphur,
iron, magnesia, and various other chem-
ical properties. There is a well whose
temperature is 185°. A bath-room has
been erected over a spring of a temper-
ature of 195°. Another well was bored
at this place to the depth of sixty-five
feet, when the boring instruments were
blown out with tremendous force, high
into the air. An attempt was made to
pump water from this well; after a few
strokes, a violent steam was blown out
ten or fifteen feet high. If the pump-
ing was stopped, the blowing would
stop also, but renewed afresh as often
as the pumping was renewed. The wa-
ter at the top being cold, seemed to hold
in abeyance the steam and intensely
hot water below; the action of the
pump relieved the superincumbent
pressure, when the hot water below
rushed out. The waters of the celebrat-
ed Napa Soda Springs, five miles from
Napa City, hold in solution soda, mag-
nesia, lime, iron, alumina, and other
properties, and are considered not only
a very pleasant but a most healthful
beverage. The vegetation round these
Springs is evidently benefited by being
watered by these springs. Near Clear
Lake there are some similar springs,
and they are all well worth visiting,
and will interest persons wanting to be
informed concerning the subject of this
paper.

FLOEA OF JAPAN.

Azaleas and Diervillas growr in great
profusion, and with their pink and
scarlet flowers produce a magnificent
effect. Among other flowering trees
there are the common Pear (Pyrus com-
munis), the double flowering wild Cher-
ry (Prtinas pseudd cerasus), a wild Plum
{Primus), and a shrub looking like a

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

205

wild Apple (Japanese " sanshasi"),
which produces clusters of small red
fruit, very likely (says M. Louis Boh-
mer, who made the exploration now ab-
breviated) a Lyrus toringo. There is
another most remarkable climbing shrub
(the " Kokuwa"), a species of Actinidia.
The only timber trees seen were Grypt-
omeria Japonioa, evidently planted
there. There were seen only a few
small Oaks. Among the herbaceous
plants are Plaiicidium palmatum, a
beautiful ranunculaceous plant, also
found in the mountains of Nikko, and
never yet introduced into foreign gar-
dens. The Lily of the Valley covers
the meadows by acres. In the hills
several varieties of Solomon's Seal
(Polygonatum). Where there is water
there is to be seen fine Arums, bearing
flowers more than twelve inches long,
resembling the Calla JElhiopica, but of
larger size, which would be a valuable
acquisition for our ponds, and is hardy,
being found growing with Galtha palus-
tris. Ferns are very abundant on the
hills; among them the Adiantum pedat-
um, a kind of Maiden-hair Fern. As-
plenium, Polypodium, and Pleris are
also abundant.

Within ten miles of Hakodate there
are good-sized trees, although not fre-
quent. They consist of Horse-chest-
nut, edible Chestnut, Walnut, Magno-
lias, beautifully leaved Maple (Acerpul-
malum), Alder, Birch, and an Ash.
Fruit-trees are badly attacked by but-
terflies in some localities. At a high
elevation a beautiful climbing shrub,
called by the Japanese " Matatabi,"
was recognized as Actinidice polygama.
The points of the leaves have the ap-
pearance of flowers. On close inspec-
tion, however, the flowers are under
the branches, resembling those of the
Tea shrub. They are sweet-scented,
and belong to the same family as Tea

and Camellia. (The editor of the Gar-
dener's Monthly is doubtful concerning
this). The appearance of the shrub is
elegant, and would well repay intro-
duction into our shrubberies, Mr. Boh-
mer thinks. It is frequently found
growing in company with and climbing
on Magnolia pypoleuca, which grows to
a size there of two to three feet in diam-
eter, and to a height of at least sixty
feet. A remarkable tree, much valued
for its timber, is the Japanese Katsura,
the scientific name of which is Gercidi-
phyllum Japonicum, only lately classi-
fied under the family of Magnoliacece.
There are recorded two species in the
country. It grows to a large size, and
attains a height of over 100 feet, with
a diameter sometimes of six to eight
feet. In the ponds a small Water Lily
(Nymphoea leragona) is found, the unde-
veloped leaf-buds of which are consid-
ered a great delicacy by the Japanese,
and eaten by them with vinegar. The
leaf- buds are covered with a mucilage
like fish spawn. The flowers are white
like a small Nymphoea. In the valleys
are the timber trees before named. The
undergrowth is composed of a close-
growing Arundinaria, which is com-
monly called Bamboo Grass, and is a
favorite food for horses and deer.
Among the climbing shrubs is the mag-
nificent Schizophragma hydrangoides,
which will be a fine novelty for our
parks. It is a true Hydrangea, but re-
sembles a white Clematis at a distance.
It has a rich green foliage. Euonymus
radicans was found, a plant now well
known. It is an evergreen, and covers
trees like Ivy. The only Conifer grow-
ing in the districts explored was Taxus
cuspidata. The soil is generally a black
mold, the substratum of which is a dark
brown loam. Most of the grains are
found growing. Lilium Thumbergianum
is cultivated to a great extent with Dlos-

206

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICTJLTUKIST.

corea batatas, a species of Yam, for the
sake of their edible bulbous roots. On
a pretty stream was found on the stones
a singular Lily, new to cultivation,
named by Professor Gray Lilium medeo-
loides. It much resembles a Fritillaria,
its leaves being verticillate or like a
wheel. Its flowers are scarlet. The
young shoots of the Brake Fern, Jap-
anese " Warabi," are much prized as
food. The fronds are used, when un-
developed, in soups, etc. Several Hy-
drangeas abound, as H. spicata, with
spikes of white flowers, different from
other Hydrangeas. Another is of a
beautiful sky-blue color. It is proba-
bly H. acuminata of Siebold and Zucca-
rini. Among the rocks are two differ-
ent kinds of Club Moss like those known
in America, and used by bouquet mak-
ers. There is a Fern called Lomaria Ja~
ponica, with tinted fronds.

Shakotan is famous for the produc-
tion of a peculiar kind of Bamboo
(Arundo), used by the Japanese for
stems of pipes and writing brushes.
There are Ferns growing with varie-
gated fronds. Variegated fronds among
Ferns are very unusual, especially in
northern latitudes.

(to be continued).

MttttH &xthU$.

HINTS FOE EASTEEN SHIPMENT OF
FEUIT.

Everything which tends toward a
better understanding of the demand for
California fruit is of value to our fruit-
growers. "We have received from Da-
vis & Sutton, 75 Warren Street, New
York, a circular stating the kinds of
fruit which succeed best in the Eastern
markets, and giving hints concerning
the best ways of packing and shipping.
As the writers have had considerable
experience in handling California fruit

at the East, we regard their statements
as worthy of attention:

The summer fruits should be sent by
passenger trains to insure their arrival
in good order. "We commence the
season with early Moorpark Apricots
and early Pears as follows: Bartlett,
American Russet, Louis Bon, white
Doyenne; also, a few early French
Plums. And a little later we reecive
the following varieties of Pears and
Plums: Doyenne du Cornice, Beurre
Hardy, Onondaga, and Flemish Beauty
Pears; Bradshaw, Coe's Golden Drop,
Jefferson, Magnum Bonum, White Egg,
Duane's Purple, Washington, Colum-
bia, and Quackenboss Plums. Also,
the Gros Prune d'Agen and German
Prune. This comprises the list of sum-
mer fruits, but some of the above
should be more liberally shipped than
others. For instance: The Bartlett,
White Doyenne, Doyenne du Cornice,
and Beurre Hardy are special favorites;
and in Plums the largest find the best
sale, such as Bradshaw, General Hand,
Duane Purple, and Gros Prune d'Agen.
The latter is an excellent variety, and
commands more money than any other,
as they come in very good order. The
fall and winter Pears are as follows:
Beurre d'Anjou, Beurre Clairgeau,
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Glout Morceau,
Winter Nelis, Yicar of Wakefield,
Beurre d'Aremburge, Doyenne d'Alen-
con, Pound, and Easter Beurre. All
these can be sent by slow freight at
one-half the expense. Of these we rec-
ommend the largest share to be Winter
Nelis and Easter Beurre, and a liberal
share of Beurre Clairgeau, Glout Mor-
ceau, and Duchesse Pears. The Win-
ter Nelis is one of the best Pears we
get. It is adapted to all classes of
trade on account of its superior quality.
The Beurre Clairgeau is also a favorite,
owing to its size, shape, and handsome

THE CALIFOBNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

207

color. The Easter Beurre comes after
the others are out of market, and is an
excellent shipping Pear. "We have se-
cured quite a foreign demand for them,
and each year it is increasing. We
have endeavored to give you the best
varieties to ship. You may say we have
omitted one kind of fruit (the Grape)
which is one of your largest produc-
tions. It is not because it would not
find a ready market, but because they
do not arrive in good order. We are
in hopes that some mode of curing and
packing, similar to varieties sent from
Spain, will be adopted. If it can be
done we can find an outlet for immense
quantities of them.

We propose giving some important
suggestions in selecting and packing
fruit. Select the largest and smoothest
fruit. Small or gnarly fruit is not de-
sirable, neither does it pay for trans-
portation. And it is a very poor plan
to pack large fruit in the top and bot-
tom, and small in the middle of the
box; it is soon found out, and does
more harm than anything else to a
brand of fruit. Wrap the fruit careful-
ly in soft Manila paper (light yellow),
completely covering it; it looks better
and packs better. Do not use common
brown straw paper, as it is too coarse,
and bruises the fruit. Let the fruit be
packed carefully and tight. Have the
boxes full to prevent it from moving
about by the constant jar it undergoes
in its long journey. If well packed the
boxes average 48 to 50 pounds gross.
Have stencil plates for each variety, and
be very careful to mark each box cor-
rectly. It often occurs that a fall Pear
is marked a winter variety, and the box
may not be opened for months, and
when opened it is found spoiled from
such neglect. Plums should be wrap-
ped the same as Pears, and particular
pains taken with them in packing, as

they are more delicate than Pears and
very easily bruised. Have the package
made of well seasoned wood, light and
strong and neatly finished. Nail a
strip across each end on the top of the
box, for ventilation when tiered in the
cars, and it also prevents bruising the
top layer of fruit when the boxes are
packed full, as they should be. Anoth-
er caution to the shipper is not to pick
Pears too green, and have them shrivel
and not ripen. This quite often occurs,
and creates dissatisfaction among buy-
ers.

FRUIT GROWING NEAR SANTA ROSA.

Following is a statement of the ex-
perience in fruit growing of Eichard
Fulkerson, who formerly lived within a
mile of Bloomfield, Iowa. A portion
of the farm on which the orchard stands,
was purchased by Col. J. B. Armstrong,
and is now included in the corporate
limits of Santa Eosa:

I think the valley from Santa Eosa
to Cloverdale the best fruit growing
section in the State. I have been twen-
ty-two years in the State, having had
experience in growing fruit in Tennes-
see, Kentucky, Indiana, and Iowa, pre-
vious to coming to California. I first
planted Apples, Pears, Plums, Cher-
ries, and Quinces. I have one Apple-
tree of that lot that bore at three years
old, a Eoxbury Eusset, and has borne
every year since, and is now in May,
1876, 'full of fruit. In fact, all that I
set out then have borne every year
since. I afterwards planted Apricots
and Nectarines, ten varieties; four va-
rieties of Almonds, and over twenty va-
rieties of Pears, and have now twenty-
five varieties of Pear-trees which are
full, and have averaged a good crop
every year since they came into bear-
ing seventeen years ago. I have also

208

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

two varieties of Figs, the white and
blue Smyrna; the oldest two trees are
fifteen inches each in diameter, and
four feet in circumference. One of
these trees shades by measurement thir-
ty feet across, which would give a cir-
cumference of ninety feet of shade of
one Fig-tree sixteen years old. My
forty trees bear every year two crops.
The first crop matures about the last of
July. The second crop is larger than
the first, but does not mature so well.
I sell some green and dry the rest.
The birds are more destructive on Figs
than any other fruit. Of the second
crop not more than half will mature.
Good Figs will always sell for five cents
a pound green, and when dried from
twelve to fifteen cents per pound.
Cherries are a very profitable fruit.
They sell on an average for from eight
to ten cents per pound. The Cherries
ripen about the fifteenth of May in my
orchard. My Cherries are about ten
years old, and bear every year. I have
a number of varieties of early Apples
that ripen in June, and early Plums
that ripen the first of July. I always
get a good price at home for early
Pears and Apples. My next fruits to
mature are Apricots and early Peaches
about the middle of July, and from
that on Prunes, Plums, and Peaches,
until the last of September, and Ap-
ples and Pears until the end of Novem-
ber. Apples keep best out in the or-
chard piled up beneath the tree in any
kind of a pen to hold them together,
with boards or straw on top to shade
them. The fall of rain on them seems
to be absolutely beneficial. In the
house and in cellars — or in any close
place, thej- will rot. It is never cold
enough to freeze them in the most ex-
posed places. Last year I had Pears
in the orchard in open boxes until the
first of January, which kept perfectly

sound. I have a variety of Pear which
keeps until April; I sold them in Santa
Rosa often in April. I dry from my
orchard Plums, Prunes, Pears, Apples,
Peaches, and Figs. It pays well to dry
fruit here. I get for pitted Plums and
Prunes dried, eighteen cents per pound;
Pears from twelve and a half to fifteen
cents; Apples from seven to ten cents;
Peaches from eight to twelve cents
when dried in the skin; taken pitted
we get from fifteen to eighteen cents
per pound. For my Quinces I get four
cents a pound when green. I think
Pear-trees yield from three to five bush-
els of Pears at ten years old, and the
yield increases as they grow older.
One variety in my orchard, the Flem-
ish Beauty, ten years old, yields about
eight boxes of fifty pounds each — four
hundred pounds to the tree. Of the
twenty-five varieties in my orchard, I
consider the Seckel, Bartlett, Winter
Nelis, and Easter Beurre the best. The
Flemish Beauty is a fine bearer, and
excellent for drying. I have forty va-
rieties of Apples. The best early Ap-
ple is Red June, the Astrachan, the
early Harvest, and the May Apple. Of
the fall Apples, the Baldwin, Roxbury,
Russet, Golden Apple, Yellow Bell-
flower, Fall Pippin, and Gravenstein.
Of the winter Apples the Newtown Pip-
pin is the best.

Of nuts I have the Almond and two
varieties of "Walnuts, two Chestnut, and
one Olive-tree. Neither of the latter
are old enough to bear. The Almond-
trees are bearing, and are profitable.
I took eighty pounds of dried Almonds,
by actual weight, from two trees. They
are worth from eighteen to twenty cents
a pound. I have two Pomegranates
bearing; they never miss. The Olive-
tree is now in bloom — two years old
from the cutting. I have also Black
Pepper-trees, which are full, but the

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

209

fruit does not mature. I have also
twenty-four acres of vineyard, and per-
haps twenty-four varieties of Grapes.
For wine, the Zinfandel, the White
Reisling, Black Muscatel, and the
Muscat of Alexandria are the best.
For table Grapes, the Black Malvoisie,
the Black Hamburg, Queen of Neice,
and the Rose of Peru are the best.
The most showy of all Grapes is the
Flame Tokay. I sell Grapes generally
to wine makers. Table Grapes average
two cents a pound ; wine Grapes gener-
ally a cent a pound. The best varieties
of foreign wine Grapes are worth from
twenty-five to forty dollars per ton. I
cut one hundred tons of Grapes, year
before last, from my vineyard — an av-
erage of a little over four tons to the
acre. For raisins, the Muscat and
Flame Tokay are the best. I made
several hundred pounds this year which
were very fine, and sold them for fif-
teen cents a pound. I think raisin-
making would be profitable as a busi-
ness in this section. "We scald the
Grapes first and dry them in the sun.
They will dry, in good warm weather,
in five or six days, and then are press-
ed in boxes. I have sold all my raisins
for the last few years in Santa Rosa ;
also my Almonds and dried fruit. The
low hills adjoining the valleys, having
an elevation of from twenty to one
thousand feet above the plain, are best
for most fruits and Grapes. Except
for Apples and Pears the soil on the
plains is too rich and strong. The
trees go too much to wood.

In this country there is no rain after
the middle of May, when the rainy sea-
son closes. No irrigation is required
in Sonoma County. My custom is to
plow and thoroughly pulverize the
ground before the rainy season closes,
keeping the surface as level as possible.
I don't plow, if I can help it, after the

rains. I cultivate, if necessary, with
harrow and cultivator. Under this
treatment, vthe land retains its moist-
ure, on the principle that a hard sur-
face is a condenser of heat, and dries
out the soil to a great depth, while a
finely pulverized soil is a non-conduct-
or of heat, and by capillary • attraction,
absorbs like a sponge the moisture from
below. I have raised Watermelons of
forty pounds weight, without a drop of
water on the surface, and last year I
had plenty of Squashes weighing from
seventy -five to one hundred pounds
each. I have also raised forty bushels
of Corn to the acre, on which no rain
fell. This system, in my opinion, ap-
plies with equal force to all kinds of
crops and soil. I treat my orchard,
vineyard, vegetable garden, Corn and
small grain in the same way. I am
satisfied that this is the best system of
cultivation in this State. — Sonoma Demo-
crat, June 10.

THE ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ
(ROBINSON CRUSOE'S).

This is the scene of Alexander Sel-
kirk's sojourn from 1704 to 1709. He
was a real person. The island is a
deep volcanic ridge, extending from
east to west a distance of about twelve
miles, with a breadth of only a few
miles. The highest peak, called by the
Spaniards "El Yunke," from its re-
semblance to an anvil, rises to a height
of 300 feet. The south side forms an
almost vertical wall of bare rock; the
opposite side is divided by spurs into a
series of valleys, which, viewed from
the sea, present a very fine appearance,
the hills being covered with forests of
dark Myrtle, and the glens clothed
with a rich vegetation, composed of the
Myrtle, the Peach, and a great variety
of ferns, flowering shrubs, and aromat-

210

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

ic plants. The Mint grows in large
patches, scenting the air all around;
and a plant called the Gunnera scabra,
resembling an enormous Rhubarb,
grows almost to the height of a tree, so
that half a dozen men could find shelt-
er under a single leaf. The glens ter-
minate in small bays teeming with fish;
there is a large gold and brown colored
cray-fish {Palinurus). These glens are
separated from each other by high
cliffs. Among the birds are numerous
varieties of the humming bird, a spe-
cies of thrush with yellow legs and bill,
and flocks of wild pigeons. This, as
most people know, was the retreat of
the original Robinson Crusoe. The
general aspect of this place, however,
is not inviting; the clouds which gath-
er perpetually about the mountain
peaks and descend into the glens, deep-
en the gloom of the Myrtle forests, and
produce an impression of sadness and
melancholy not at all in accordance
with the glowing pictures of tropical
scenery created by the genius of Defoe.
— Late Cruise of the " Challenge" a
British ship.

[In addition to his enforced captivity
from shipwreck, and his suffering from
want of common comforts of life, Sel-
kirk must have had a long gloomy
abode on this foggy land, the beautiful
vegetation and flowers, it is true, some-
what cheering him at times. But he
might in some way have caught fish
and turtles, and perhaps killed with a
bow and arrows some of the birds, and
caught a few of the wild goats which
are known to have supplied him with
food and clothing. Still, the ingenious
and beautiful narrative or tale of Rob-
inson Crusoe appears so near reality to
all readers, that no one is dissatisfied
with it, although it is mostly imagina-
tive, and goes far beyond the matter of
fact of the case. — Editoe.]

NEW YORK HOETICULTUBAL SOCIETY'S
EXHIBITION.

Among many rare dwarf evergreen
shrubs was the Retinospera plumosa au-
rea, looking as dense, soft, and velvety
as a clump of Moss, yet many times
larger than the largest tuft of Moss
ever was, and threatening to turn into
a mass of gold on its first encounter
with a sunbeam. There were also a
large number of new Maples from Ja-
pan, all curious either for their shapes
or colors of their foliage, and suggest-
ing many, new possibilities to persons
with a fondness for groujjing deciduous
trees. The beautiful climbing Fern
(Japanese), which most ladies fear won't
grow in the house, was exhibited in
great quantity. Although the bloom-
ing season of Orchids was two months
past, there was a good display of these
wonderful flowers, among them being
some magnificent Cattleyas, of the
bloom of which we can get only a faint
conception by imagining a rose-colored
Iris two or three times enlarged, and
with many variegations of hue and tint.
Handsome Ferns were almost number-
less, and among them were many vari-
eties of the Maiden-hair Fern, which so
beautifully ornaments a parlor. A doz-
en fine specimens of the hardy (Ghent)
Azalea made many people acquainted
with a flower which, though cheap, of
easy culture, and of unequaled bril-
liance among spring-flowering shrubs,
has not been seen by one American in
a thousand. Large plants of the Rho-
dodendron, loaded with clusters of ex-
quisite flowers, demonstrated to doubt-
ing souls that the improved varieties of
this plant can blossom. — The Christian
Union.

Let every one plant a tree, in com-
memoration of the nation's hundredth
birthday.

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUEIST.

211

god and <Bm.

CREEK FISHING— DIPPING FOR TROUT
—FLY-FISHING.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

Dipping with the natural or artificial
fly is a method of fishing well adapted
to our rainless summers, when the
creeks are fine and low, and when the
majority of the brook trout have retired
chiefly from the larger streams and
shallows to the deep and shady pools,
where they can lie in quietness and
comparative security, screened from
the fierce rays of the sun. And it can
best be practiced in rather calm weath-
er, and on such waters as are fringed
by overhanging trees and bushes, which
not only form a harbor for the fish, but
also serve to conceal the dipper from
observation during his operations.

It will be found not only a very qui-
et and agreeable method of sporting
beneath the cool and refreshing shad-
ow of some tangled woods or forests,
but also a very successful plan for pro-
curing a dish of these speckled beauties
when all other efforts in larger rivers
are futile. And thus the enthusiastic
sportsman may enjoy a few pleasant
hours' diversion in place of sipping ci-
der or beer, or any stronger drinks in
some saloon, or smoking himself into
a red herring at home, to avoid the ef-
, f ects of ennui or blue devils.

The rod used for dipping here in our
canyons ought generally to be short —
not more than eight or ten feet long, and
sometimes even much less — to be conve-
niently managed. Even a common one
and a half or two- dollar rod will an-
swer the purpose well. But to reach
across any large pools, a rather long
rod, or rod that can be elongated at
pleasure, is desirable. The line must
be of the finest but very stoutest gut
for a leader, and may be attached to
any rather fine line to be worked on a
light reel like the Orvis (a new and ex-
cellent article), to lengthen or shorten
the line as may be convenient ; and the
hooks must have short shanks, and if
the natural fly, or grasshopper, or bee-
tle are used, be of proportionate size to
such objects used as bait. The blue-
bottle and almost any kind of large fly
are good dipping baits, although the pro-
curing them is rather a difficult matter,
and the capture of the baits will often
involve more trouble than catching the
fish, unless the sportsman is young,
nimble, and fond of pedestrian exer-
cise. Grasshoppers form excellent nat-
ural baits, and may be dipped with
either on the surface, or sunk to mid-
water, by placing a small pellet or shot
of sufficient weight eight or ten inches
above the hook, when they will be
greedily taken. They may be met with
on any dry grassy bank or ground fac-
ing the sun, between the months of

212

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

May and September. The middle-siz-
ed and greenest ones are the best.
They may be carried in a wooden box,
■wide at the bottom and narrow at the
top, with a sliding lid, by withdrawing
which a little, to admit the light, they
will readily creep out, one at a time.
In baiting with these, the hook must
be stuck transversely across the middle
of the thorax; or be entered under the
head, and lodged in the body. Black
crickets are very enticing for baits; so,
also, are any of the common black or
brown beetles, to be angled with as di-
rected for grasshoppers. Various spe-
cies, of different sizes and colors, may
be found infesting different sorts of
trees and plants, and under stones and
rocks, as well as in the neighborhood
of all decaying matter, animal and veg-
etable. In preparing beetles for baits,
the elytra, or external wing- covers,
should be cut off with a pair of scissors
or otherwise, and then the hook insert-
ed through the throat, allowing the
legs to hang downward, when they may
be dipped with on the surface the same
as flies.

In fishing with beetles and grasshop-
pers in the streams and open water,
jDlace a single shot pellet on the line in
order to keep the bait rolling along
about mid-water (this may be done by
proportioning the size of the shot pellet
to the strength of the current), and
commence at the top of the stream, as
in worm ashing, (we need hardly state
that the large brown earth worm is a
capital bait), and creeping cautiously
forward on hands and knees, if requi-
site, drop the beetle or grasshopper
gently and slyly over the bank, close
by the edge of the water, in the first
instance, then gradually advance, cast
after cast, until you can fish the whole
stream regularly down. Throw the
bait gently across the water, after the

first few trials in shore, and allow it to
swim quietly down with the current,
sometimes just under the surface, and
at others about mid-water, particularly
where it is deep.

Care must be taken with these nat-
ural fly-baits, that they are never allow-
ed to sink below the' surface on any oc-
casion, or they immediately become
useless; and, for this reason, they are
best adapted for dipping over banks,
or among trees and bushes in calm
weather and in still water, while the
more hardy beetles, crickets, and grass-
hoppers are equally suited for fishing
at mid-water. Every attention must be
paid to keep the fingers clean and dry
in attaching the winged natural flies to
the hook ; otherwise their wings will be
damaged, and themselves rendered val-
ueless as baits.

In pursuing this stealthy mode of
fishing, every operation and movement
of the sportsman must be conducted
with the most cat-like secrecy and cau-
tion ; as on the adroitness of his pro-
ceedings success in this branch of the
art will chiefly depend. On proceeding
to work, the fisherman must endeavor
to conceal himself perfectly from ob-
servation, by snugly ensconcing him-
self behind a bush or overhanging
bank ; and at the same time take the
utmost care to render the rod and tackh
as little conspicuous as possible. He
must then draw out as much line
will reach from the tip of the rod tc
the surface of the water, but no more
and having attached to the hook the
bait, he must swing it cautiously over,
and allow it slowly to descend to tht
surface of the water, taking care to per-
mit as little of the tip of the rod to pro-
ject beyond the bank as he convenient-
ly can. If, on the other hand, the
margin of the water is incommoded
by bushes or boughs of trees, he will

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

213

not be able to swing his bait over in
the above fashion, but after affixing it
to the hook, he must proceed to coil
the line around the tip of the rod, un-
til it will pass among the branches
without getting entangled, when the
rod must be introduced very slowly and
deliberately through the branches into
a proper position, and the line uncoiled
and the bait lowered, by twisting the
rod in the opposite direction, until the
hook reaches the water. The top of
the rod should be concealed as much
as possible among the branches. While
in the process of lowering the bait, if it
is found necessary to move the rod at
all from its position, it must be done
very slowly, to avoid creating alarm, as
the more it is made to assume the char-
acter of an extended branch, the less
likely will it be viewed with suspicion.
Before reaching the water, the bait
should be suffered to dangle backwards
and forwards a few times, just hovering
on the surface. This will exhibit it in
a very tempting manner, and it will in-
evitably be seized with the greatest
eagerness the moment it touches the
surface, or even before it has time fair-
ly to do so, provided there is a trout
within sight of it, and the sportsman
keeps his own anxious visage out of
sight. On a fish being hooked, the an-
gler must either contrive to lift him
slick out of the water, with as little dis-
turbance to it as possible ; or otherwise,
if too large to admit of such a summary
proceeding, he must endeavor with all
speed to lead him away from the pool,
where soon sport may be had again, to-
ward an eligible landing-place.

"Worm fishing is peculiarly adapted
to the spring months, before the ap-
pearance of flies on the water tempts
the fish to leave the bottom ; then it
must be reckoned the sheet-anchor of
the angler's hopes, and he will gener-

ally succeed with it to his heart's con-
tent, and return home with a heavy
basket.

THE SPOKTSMAN.

A great injury has resulted in the
physical education of youth, from con-
founding the terms " sporting-man ''
and " sportsman." Many parents have
been unwilling that their boys should
become sportsmen because of their very
proper dislike of sporting -men. But
these terms are in reality the very op-
posites of each other. A sporting-man
is a haunter of all places of questiona-
ble resort. He dabbles in betting-
books, buys and sells pools at races.
He knows nothing of the sports, which
he pretends to patronize, beyond their
nomenclature. A horse-trot is not to
him an exhibition of animal spirit and
physical endurance, but a dexterous
piece of jugglery by which money may
be won. He is a patron of the ring
and the cockpit, a vulgar fellow to
whose idea of a good time whisky is in-
dispensable. This equivocal being has
been regarded by many as a sportsman,
and hence many have been deterred
from following the real sportsman's
craft by flood, and field, and wood.

But your true sportsman is a gentle-
man, usually quiet in his deportment,
a lover of beautiful scenery, and the
study of nature in general. He does
not kill for the sake of killing. The
power which was given to man " over
all beasts " is assumed and wielded by
him in the gentlest manner. That the
lower animals should die a sudden
death may be accepted as' a require-
ment in their existence, which is again
an undoubted necessity to humanity.
A more painful supposition could not
be made than what the result would be
were they allowed to lie down and die

214

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

in our midst of wounds, disease, or old
age. The true sportsman, viewing
sport in its higher aspects, delights to
see his game fall instantaneously, and
is grieved should it, wounded, escape
to die unfound. His bag of game or
basket of fish is rather an accessory to
the health, giving exercise and diver-
sion which he seeks in the open air.
He will tell you after returning from a
half day on one of our mountain
streams with a light basket of trout,
that he feels paid for his time and la-
bor, and is just as anxious to repeat
the exercise as if he had returned with
his basket full. It is the fresh pure air,
the prime necessity of a healthy state
of existence, the exhilaration of spirits
which comes from the quickening pro-
cess of combustion by which the used-
up atoms in the body are burned up and
removed, that lead the sportsman over
the hills and beside the streams, rath-
er than the pecuniary value of the fish
and game.

The true sportsman has always an
amusement to turn to, by which the
course of his thoughts is completely
changed, his mind relaxed, and his
body restrung. The return of the fish-
ing season provides for him intense
bodily and spiritual enjoyment. After
months of duty in its dull routine, es-
pecially if there has been care or con-
troversy, or any trial of feeling in his
experience, he repairs to the forest and
stream as a rest from excitement, and
there finds, in their quiet, gentle, and
changeless beauty a balm and joy.
This devotion to the sports of the field
in their noblest character is one of the
features peculiar to the British race.
Ralph Waldo Emerson in his " En-
glish Traits," shows how this race has
become prepared for its conquest of
the earth through that conlbination of
moral, mental, and physical qualities

which characterize the sportsman. He
says of the English people :

" They have a vigorous health, and
last well into middle and old age. The
old men are as red as roses, and still
handsome. They have more constitu-
tional energy than any other people.
They think, with Henri Quatre, that
manly exercises are the foundation of
that elevation of mind which gives one
nature ascendance over another; or,
with the Arabs, that the days spent in
the chase are not counted in the length
of life. As soon as he can handle a
gun, hunting is the fine art of every
Englishman of condition. They are
the most voracious people of prey that
ever existed. Every season turns out
the aristocracy to shoot and fish. The
more vigorous run out of the island to
Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa,
to Australia, to hunt with fury by gun,
by trap, by harpoon, by lasso, with
dog, with horse, with elephant, or with
dromedary, all the game that is in na-
ture. These men have written the
game books of all countries, as Hawk-
er, Scrope, Murray, Herbert, Maxwell,
Cumming, and a host of travelers."

The great importance of the preser-
vation and increase of fish and game to
our people is in the opportunity and in-
ducement to enter upon a sport which
our people of all classes need. The.
farmer's boy never becomes so tired at
his work in the field that he does not
find relaxation and rest in " going a-fish-
ing." Our business men, students, and
professional men would live longer and
do more work if they could go out once
a week through the season and catch
trout enough for breakfast. There is
something humanizing in the craft.
One will always find in the true disci-
ple of the rod and gun, no matter how
rough his exterior, something attract-
ive, some *' touch of nature which

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUKIST.

215

makes the whole world kin." Old
Izaak Walton thought the true angler
must be a pious man. The sportsman
will get, in the pursuit of his craft, as
Dr. Goldsmith says, some impression
of the Fatherhood of God. The most
devout angler can not fail to have an
experience like that which Dr. Bethune
describes in his preface to Walton and
Cotton's Angler, where he says: "I
trust I have drunk enough of the old
angler's spirit not to let such pastime
break in upon better things; but on
the other handjl have worked the hard-
er from thankfulness to Him who taught
the brook to wind with musical gur-
glings as it rolls on to the great sea."

TISH PARASITES.

There is a fish, Professor Van Bene-
den tells us, called the Holothuria,
which is a living boarding-house for
the Fierasfer, an eel-like animal. The
latter is lodged in the digestive tube of
his companion, and without any regard
for the hospitality which he receives,
seizes on his portion of all that enters.
The angler, or Beaudroie of the Medi-
terranean, often harbors, in the bron-
chial sac, a kind of eel, which is abund-
antly able to take care of itself, but
prefers to live a life of idleness and
share its host's spoils. The shark is
accompanied by the pilot fish, which
does not, as is often reported, exist on
the leavings of his larger companion,
but on his own industry, and doubtless
finds some advantage in piloting his
neighbor. Another remarkable fish,
the Remora, literally moors itself to
the body of the shark, thus converting
the latter into a vehicle which carries
him about without exertion on his part.
When he becomes hungry he lets go
and hunts for prey wherever he may
happen to be. The tenacity of the Re-

mora in attaching itself is taken advan-
tage of by the fishermen of Mozam-
bique Channel, in order to capture tur-
tles and large fish. But what is re-
markably curious, they pass through
the tail of the Remora a ring to which
a cord is attached, and then send it in
pursuit of the first passer-by which they
consider worthy to be caught. The
fish holds on to its prey so firmly that
it only remains to haul victor and cap-
tor in by the line. Is not this a novel
plan of angling ?

There is a crab of the family of the
3Iaid(E, which conceals itself in the
substance of polypidom. It is common
in the Yiti Islands, in company with a
gasteropod mollusk, and both of them
assume the exact color of the polypi-
dom. This is a new kind of mimicry.
Another crab appropriates a sea Anem-
one to form a living cloak to hide it
from view, in order that it may spring
out from its ambush to attack prey.
Remarkable marine creatures are the
Birgi, a kind of crustaceans which grow
very large, and conceal their abdomen
no longer in a shell, but in crevices of
a rock. In the East Indies they re-
main on land, and even climb trees.
They have so much strength in their
pincers that it is related that one, while
stretched on the branch of a tree,
" raised a goat up by the ears." A
family of isopods are rather dangerous
messmates, it would seem, for they cut
into the walls of their host's stomach,
and live like Sybarites on its contents.

The most interesting fixed messmates
are the cirrhipedes, which cover the
skins of whales, which they never quit
after once choosing their abode. Each
whale lodges a peculiar species ; so
that the crustacean messmate is a true
flag, which indicates, in some respect,
the nationality. It would not be with-
out interest for voyagers who are nat-

216

THE CALIFOBNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

uralists to study these living flags. -

Scientific American.

SMALL FISH PONDS.

The subject of fish culture is exciting
a good deal of interest in all parts of
the country, and I receive frequent let-
ters of inquiry, of which the inclosed,
from an Indiana correspondent, is a
sj>ecimen:

' ' What are the most desirable kinds
of fish to stock a pond fed from a spring
— 'size of pond say 50 by 150 feet, about
one-third of it ten feet deep, clay bot-
tom? How and where shall I procure
them, and what suggestions can you
offer?"

The data are altogether too meagre
to give any satisfactory or definite re-
ply. Whether brook trout, the most
beautiful and most coveted of our na-
tive fishes, can be cultivated in the pond,
depends altogether upon the copious-
ness of the spi'ing. If. the spring is
small, and in a dry time in summer but
little more water runs than is evaporat-
ed from the surface of the pond, then
trout are out of the question. They
would do well enough for nine months
in the year, but in the critical time in
summer, when the temperature of the
water in the pond would go up to 76
or 80 degrees, the trout would soon be
seen floating upon the surface, dead or
dying. If they should go through the
first year,, as they might in case of
abundant rains, they would not be safe
in the exceptional dry seasons that are
sure to come. It should be remem-
bered by all persons who want to culti-
vate trout, that these dry seasons are
very hard upon trout, even in brooks
well stocked and in favorite localities.
We have known such seasons in Con-
necticut, where, in the lower portions
of fine trout streams, the fish died by

thousands, and were saved from total
destruction only by unfailing springs
in the headwaters, and swamps, where
a few found refuge. An abundant sup-
ply of spring water, of the temperature
of about 50 degrees, is essential to the
successful cultivation of trout. They
will live in water of higher temperature
for a portion of the time, if a spring is
within reach. They will flourish in
small ponds if the stream is copious
and the change of water is frequent.
Some springs discharge from 300 to
1,200 gallons a minute, and of course
that amount of water, minus the portion
evaporated, would pass out of the pond
every minute. The warmer water upon
the surface would be replaced by the
water directly from the spring, and the
temperature would be kept down where
a trout could live. If my correspond-
ent has a spring of this capacity, he
may cultivate trout. Before stocking
his pond, however, it would be safe for
him to invest in " Stone upon Trout
Culture," or some other good manual,
which he can order from any book
store in the city, or from the publishers,
J. B. Osgood & Co., of Boston. Trout
culture is'one of the fine arts, and some
experience is needed to succeed in it.
One thing is generally overlooked by
those who make a venture in trout
ponds. It is necessary for these beau-
tiful creatures to be fed Avith animal
food if they are to grow rapidly, and be
served up at the table. In their native
brooks they prey upon other fish and
upon one another. They catch worms
and insects that float down the current.
There is a constant succession of wing-
ed creatures dropping into the brook
from trees and bushes, that support
them. All this is wanting in the pcmd
upon a gentleman's lawn, and must be
supplied from some other source, or the
fish grow thin and poor. Unless one is

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

217

located near a city or village, where the
offal of fish and meat markets is cheap
and plenty, trout cannot be economical-
ly raised in a small 'pond. The lungs
of beef cattle and of sheep are among
the cheapest and best sources of food
for adult trout. It should be run
through a sausage cutter, and be fed
every day, early in the morning or just
at night, all through the year, when
the pond is free from ice. Near the
seashore, where the small fish are
abundant, these may answer equally
well. Without a cheap supply of ani-
mal food in some form, there is no
profit in a fish pond.

But there are a great many ponds too
warm for trout, where other fish are
available. It is quite probable that
our correspondent's pond is of this
character. If it was larger we should
say black bass were available. But
they want a ten-acre pond ormore, with
a good stream running through. Large
natural ponds or mill-ponds, with grav-
elly or rocky bottom; are best for this
superb game fish. All the finer sorts
of fish want clear, lively water for their
propagation and cultivation. Yellow
perch and roach would probably do
well in his pond, but they are not first-
rate for the table. The golden carp or
gold fish of the city markets would un-
questionably do well, but they are not
particularly desirable as a food fish.
They are a beautiful object in clear
water, and are much cultivated in small
ponds, in cultivated grounds, by people
fond of the finny tribes. They have a
market value, but the sale is principally
limited to the large cities, for glass
globes and aquariums. For ornament
and for pleasure, a small fish pond may
be very desirable upon a gentleman's
premises. It is only in exceptional
cases that they can be made profitable.
— W. G. in Country Gentleman.

Vol. VI.— 15.

CATCHING A PIKE.

"I've got him."

"Humph," came from my friend.

" A good-sized fish," I said, after a
pause, during which I was playing at
give-and-take with my pike.

" S'pose so," said my friend cynically.

There was a pause, all work, and
then I proclaimed my opinion that I
had a ten - pounder, and my friend
smiled derisively. Two minutes after,
as the water swirled and eddied as the
pike played about, I declared, him to be
twelve pounds. Then my friend grew
slightly interested, and when soon after
I vowed my captive at least fifteen
pounds, he laid down his rod, picked
up the gaff, and came looking breath-
lessly on. There was a " fite," as Ar-
temus Ward would call it, going on at
this time, the heavy fish trying to get
out all my line, and I striving hard as
I could to economize every inch, and
yielding to every forcible struggle, lest
the thin gimp in my hook should give
way. Did my rod bend double? Oh,
no. If it had there would have been
no capture; but keeping a gentle, weary-
ing stress upon the tyrant of the wa-
ters, I played with him till by slow de-
grees I gained forty yards of line upon
my reel, and brought him close in to
where, once or twice, w.e caught a
glimpse of horrent jaws, bronzed scales,
and a long, rushing body. But he
caught sight of us, and evidently at
least blaming us for this strain upon
his jaws, he rushed off for the middle,
making the line sing, and the winch
whirr, as ring after ring was reeled off.
Again I had him in close, and away he
went, and so on for half a dozen times,
till, tired out, he prepared to yield, and
some five and twenty minutes after he
was hooked, my friend gaffed him, and
dragged the furious monster, kicking

218

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUKIST.

and plunging, on the grass, -while the
gaff-hook was bent nearly at right an-
gles with the weight.

"A twenty-pounder!" exclaimed my
friend joyfully, as we stood gloating
over the noble proportions of what
proved in scales a five and twenty
pounder, the finest pike I ever caught.
He was massive across the back, thick
down to the tail, his shoulders rose like
a hump behind his head, and he was
glistening in his scale armor, all gold,
bronze, and metallic green. Fins,
barred and ruddy; eye, bright and fu-
rious, and the monster — for a fisherman
— leaping and bounding in the grass.
Further examination proved him to be
a young and healthy fish, with small
teeth; his length three feet six inches,
and girth nineteen inches; while in the
pride of his heart at a brother fisher-
man's success, my friend exclaimed,
" wbat a beauty!"

The tide then turned, and my friend
caught a four - pounder, then a five-
pounder, next one quite seven, when
once more I had a turn. Then for
hours we did not have a run; but as
the evening neared, we, who had pa-
tiently fished on through the rain, were
rewarded by the sport recommencing
with varied fortune, till just at dusk my
friend got fast to a goodly fish, which,
on being landed, proved to be fourteen
pounds. That finished the day, and
when we had packed up our traps we
found ourselves standing beneath a
dripping tree, with sixteen fish to the
good, the smallest of which was about
three and a half pounds. Over our
pipes that night, when the fire shone
warmly on us, we fought our battles
over again, and, though we had not
kept count, came to the conclusion that
we had taken eight each, our total
weight being about one hundred and
thirty pounds. — Once a Week.

THE GAME LAWS.

For the benefit of sportsmen we give
the following from the statutes of
1875-6:

BOUNTIES FOR THE DESTRUCTION OE WILD
ANIMALS.

Section 1. Any person who shall kill
or destroy, or cause to be killed or de-
stroyed by any person in his or their
employ, within the counties of Mendo-
cino, Del Norte, Humboldt, Placer,
Lake, San Luis Obispo, and Colusa, a
panther, or California lion, or grizzly
bear, shall be entitled to the sum of
$10; an eagle, the sum of $3; a black
or cinnamon bear, or coyote, the sum
of $5; a wildcat or catamount, the sum
of $3; and upon the presentation of a
scalp or scalps of any of the above-
named animals to any Justice of the
Peace within either of said counties,
and by oath or affirmation, or otherwise,
prove to the satisfaction of said Justice
of the Peace that the animals from
which the scalp or scalps presented
were taken were killed or destroyed in
said counties, and after the passage of
this Act, the Justice shall at once de-
stroy said scalp or scalps so presented,
and shall issue a certificate as follows:

I, , Justice of the Peace in

and for said county, do certify that
has this day presented "num-
ber— " of scalps, respectively, and has
furnished the necessary proof that the
animals from which said scalps were
taken were killed or destroyed in said

county, and is entitled to dollars.

, Justice of the Peace in and

for said county. In the year of our
Lord, one thousand eight hundred
and

Sec. 2. On the presentation by law-
ful holder of any one or more of said
certificates to the Board of Supervisors
of the said respective counties, the said
Board shall consider and allow the
same in like manner as other claims
against the said county are allowed,
and the same shall be paid out of the
General Fund.

Sec. 3. The said scalps shall be taken
as follows: Of the four-footed animals
both ears must be taken with the scalp,
and the upper bill must be taken with

THE CALIFORNIA. HO RTICULTTJKIST.

219

the eagle's scalp; and if not so taken
no bounty shall be allowed or paid.

Sec. 4. Every Justice of the Peace,
who issues a certificate as provided for
in this Act, shall be entitled to a fee of
fifty cents, to be paid by the party to
whom issued.

Sec. 5. The county of Humboldt will
not pay bounty on the scalp of the
eagle or coyote as provided in this Act.

QUAIL, PARTRIDGE, AND DUCKS.

Sec. 1. Section 626 of Penal Code is
amended to read as follows:

Every person who, in the counties of
San Bernardino or Los Angeles, be-
tween the first day of April of any year
and the first day of August of the same
year, or who in any other of the coun-
ties of this State, excepting the coun-
ties of Lassen, Plumas, and Sierra, be-
tween the fifteenth day of March and
the fifteenth clay of September in each
year, takes, kills, or destroys quail,
partridge, or grouse, mallard, wood,
teal, spoon-bill, or any kind of broad-
bill ducks, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Sec. 2. Section 627 of the Penal Code
is hereby amended to read as follows :

Every person who, in the counties of
Plumas, Lassen, or Sierra, between the
fifteenth day of March and the first day
of September in each year, takes, kills,
or destroys quail, partridge, or grouse,
or who, in either of such counties, be-
tween the fifteenth day of March and
the fifteenth day of August in each
year, takes, kills, or destroys mallard,
wood, teal, spoon-bill, or any kind of
broad-bill ducks, is guilty of a misde-
meanor.

ELK, DEER, AND ANTELOPE.

Sec. 1. Section 628 of the Penal Code
is hereby amended so as to read as fol-
lows :

Every person who, between the first
day of January and the first day of Sep-
tember in each year, takes, kills, or de-
stroys any elk, deer, mountain sheep,
or antelope, is guilty of a misdemeanor;
and every person who shall take, kill, or
destroy auy of the animals herein men-
tioned at any time, unless the carcass
of such animal is used or preserved by
the person slaying it, or is sold for
food, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Sec. 2. Section 632 of the Penal Code

is hereby amended so as to read as fol-
lows:

Every person who, in the counties of
Santa Clara, Alpine, Santa Cruz, Lake,
San Mateo, Monterey, Sonoma, Tuol-
umne, Alameda, Marin, Placer, Neva-
da, Plumas, Sierra, San Luis Obispo,
Solano, Mariposa, Mendocino, or Napa,
at any time takes or catches any trout,
except with hook and line, is guilty of
a misdemeanor.

HOW WOMEN FISH.

There's generally about six of them
in the bunch (says an exchange), with
light dresses on, and they have three
poles with as many hooks and lines
among them.

As soon as they get to the river they
look for a good place to get down on
the rafts, and the most venturesome
one sticks her boot heels in the bank
and makes two careful step - downs ;
then she suddenly finds herself at the
bottom with both hands in the water,
and a feeling that everybody in the
wide world is looking at her, and she
never tells anybody how she got there.
The other girls, profiting by her exam-
ple, turn around and go down the bank
on their hands and toes, backward.

Then they scamper over the rafts un-
til they find a shallow place where they
can see the fish, and shout:

"Oh! I see one!"

"Where?"

"There."

" Oh, my! so he is!"

" Let's catch him."

" Who's got them baits?"

"You lazy thing, you're sitting on
my pole."

" Show me the wretch that stole my
worm."

All these exclamations are gotten off
in a tone that awakens every echo with-
in a mile round, and sends every fish
within three acres square into galloping

220

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

hysterics. Then the girls by superhu-
man exertions manage to get a worm
on the hook, and " throw in" with a
splash like the launching of a wash-
tub, and await the result. When a
silver-fin comes along and nibbles the
bait, they pull up with a jerk that, had
an unfortunate fish weighing less than
fifteen pounds been on the hook, would
have landed it in the neighborhood of
three or four miles in the country.
After a while a feeble-minded sun-fish
contrives to get fastened on the hook of
a timid woman, and she gives vent to
her tongue :

" Oh, something's got my hook!"

" Pull up, you little idiot ! " shout
five excited voices, as, poles and hooks
dropped, they all rush to the rescue.
The girl with the bite gives a spasmod-
ic jerk, which sends the unfortunate
sunny into the air the full length of
forty feet of line, and he comes down
on the nearest curly head with a damp
flop that sets the girl to clawing as
though there were bumblebees in her
hair.

" Och! murder! take it away! Ugh!
the nasty thing!"

Then they hold up their skirts and
gather about that fish as it skips over
the logs, one all the time holding the
line in both hands, with her foot on
the pole as though she had an evil-dis-
posed goat on the other end. They
talk over it.

" How ever will he get off?"

"Ain't it pretty?"

" Wonder if it ain't dry ? "

" Poor little thing ; let's put it back."

" How will we get the hook from it?"

" Pick it up," says a girl, who backs
rapidly out of the circle.

" Good gracious, I'm afraid of it.
There, its opening its mouth at me."

Just then the sunny wriggles off the
hook, and disappears between two logs

into the water, and the girls try for an-
other bite.

But the sun comes down and fries
the backs of their necks, and they get
three headaches in the party, and they
all get cross and scold at the fish like
so many magpies. If an unwary chub
dares show himself in the water they
poke at him with poles, much to his
disgust. Finally they get mad all over
and throw their poles away, hunt up
the lunch -basket, climb up into the
woods where they sit around on the
grass and caterpillars, and eat enough
of dried beef and rusk and hard-boil-
ed eggs to give a wood-horse the night-
mare ; after which they compare notes
about their beaux until sundown, when
they go home and plant envy in the
hearts of all their muslin-delaine friends
by telling what " just a splendid time"
they had.

OUE FRONTISPIECE.

We embellish our number this month
with three subjects — two popular flow-
ers, and a very favorite vegetable — the
Tomato — although it may not inaptly
be called a fruit, so closely does it
reach this character. The Gladiolus is
the most beautiful of our summer
bulbs, although in many localities in
California they may be made to bloom
nearly all the year. ' ' The flowers are
of almost," as Mr. Vick says, " every
desirable color — brilliant scarlet, crim-
son, creamy white, striped, blotched,
and spotted in the most curious and in-
teresting manner." And, by the by,
we are indebted for all of the above en-
gravings to this prince among flower
cultivators — Mr. Vick — who thus con-
tinues his eulogistic remarks, and from
his experience with flowers, they are
well worthy of being noted. "Per-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

221

haps we have no flower that presents
such a gorgeous display of delicate yet
brilliant colors in the garden, or on the
exhibition tables, or for extensive floral
decorations, as the Gladiolus." We
may add that it thrives well in nearly
all parts of America, and in no region
better, if so well, as in California. It
is very easily cultivated. The bulbs
may be set from six to nine inches
apart, and covered about four inches.
If set in rows they may be six inches
apart in the rows, and the rows one
foot apart. The cuts show two plants
in flower, of somewhat different habit.

The Tritoma uvaria is a very striking
and majestic hardy plant, with flower-
stems four or five feet high, on the
tops of which are spikes of brilliant
red and orange flowers, about a foot
long, and by some have been rather
unromantically and vulgarly denomi-
nated Red-hot Pokers, being supposed
to bear some resemblance to that home-
ly domestic implement. It flowers ear-
ly in the autumn, and continues to
bloom in this State all the winter until
late in spring — its flame - colored ra-
cemes making a great show among its
long green leaves, and in the general
vegetation in those seasons. There are
several varieties of them, but there is
no great difference between them.

The pleasing group of variously shap-
ed and colored Tomatoes represents:
1, the Cherry Tomato, useful only for
pickling; 2, Persian Yellow; 3, Hatha-
way; 4, General Grant; 5, Early Smooth
Red; 6, Curled Leaf. They all are, of
course, very much reduced in size,
though very well representing the form
and characteristics of each. Mr. Vick
says: " We are satisfied that Hubbard's
Curled Leaf is the earliest Tomato
grown, and this is its only merit, for it
is small and far from being smooth.
General Grant is an excellent early To-

mato, about ten or twelve days later
than the Curled Leaf, but Hathaway's
Excelsior is as early as General Grant,
and the best Tomato we are acquainted
with. It received a certificate of merit
from the Royal Horticultural Society
of England, is pronounced by the press
of Europe the best variety produced,
and is everywhere popular. It is smooth,
solid, of good flavor, excellent color,
and productive — all good points in this
valuable vegetable. "

FRUITS, BIRDS, AND FLOWERS.

Among the many bounties and bless-
ings of Providence, which we do not
sufficiently appreciate, may be mention-
ed the trio which we have chosen for
our caption. Fruits constitute a por-
tion of our choicest luxuries, as well as
one of our most wholesome and most
essential articles of food. Fortunately,
in California, owing to the certainty in
the production and abundance of its
fruits of nearly every kind, our whole
population can enjoy them at all peri-
ods of life from the cradle to the grave,
and which certainly, in addition to the
healthfulness of our climate, bestow
upon us great enjoyment, vigor, and
elasticity of spirits, while we are com-
paratively free from many diseases
which greatly devastate civilized soci-
ety in other parts of the world at all
seasons of the year.

Were adults, and children especially,
plentifully supplied with good fresh
fruit and plain bread, in lieu of so much
of fried meats and larded short-cakes so
commonly in use, we should hear less
of many illnesses and complaints which
sweep people and children to their
graves, as though the latter were born
only to die; and still less of scarlet fe-
ver and erysipelatous affections, which
rage at times among our infantile pop-

222

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

ulation, as though their bodies were all
unsoundness and corruption.

In most years in the East, as in the
present, owing to severe frosts, fruits
are scarce and dear, and in some pla-
ces hardly obtainable on any terms.
In the Eastern cities they are, in gener-
al, the most expensive item in a proper
dietary. But they should be the most
abundant and the cheapest of all food.
Their scarcity, however, can be much
avoided, whenever their agriculturists
will take greater pains to cultivate
them, combat, in some measure, the
frost, by lighting smouldering fuel
amidst their orchards and gardens, and
in some years they would enjoy an
abundance of them, and would prove
the most remunerative product of the
farmer.

One of the leading objections to fruit
culture there is the liability of the fruit,
and even the trees, to be damaged and
destroyed by insects. Gardeners and
nurserymen have discovered regiments
of enemies to contend with, in the
shape of thousands of caterpillars,
bugs, flies, worms, etc., which prey
upon their fruits, flowers, vegetables,
plants, shrubs, and trees. And this
is, indeed, a formidable obstacle; even
in California we are beginning to suffer
from many of these pests. The tent-
caterpillar, great numbers of which we
saw in Napa Valley, in particular, is
vastly on the increase here, with sever-
al other sad enemies to our fruits.

But, for all this, we suspect man has
a good deal to blame his own short-
sightedness, or folly, or perversity.
He has destroyed the birds, the natural
protectors of all these things. This is
especially applicable to our Eastern
brethren, although we are here begin-
ning to enact the same fault, if not
crime. In the admirable arrangements
of Nature, the feathered songsters are

intended to be the most efficient of the
husbandman's auxiliaries. Not only do
they, in the natural order, amuse us
with their pretty ways, and entertain
our mornings and evenings with the in-
spiring music of joy and the sweet
songs of love, but they destroy, by
feeding on them, the very creatures
which otherwise ravage our gardens,
orchards, and vineyards, our meadows,
pastures, and groves.

By destroying the birds we destroy
the balance an All-wise Creator has es-
tablished in the animal and vegetable
kingdoms. We are doing even worse
than this. We have allowed, if not
taught, our little boys the wicked sport
of killing the birds, thus depraving
them in some measure, as well as injur-
ing those who never did to us a single
deed that was not pleasant, kind, and
good. Our boys and our young men
have, in the absence in many instances
of real game or other animals, found a
cruel pastime in the bad habit of "gun-
ning for the pot," and they have es-
teemed it a manly enterprise to shoot
the little innocent birds while frolicking
in their roseate bowers, or swinging
merrily on the tree-tops.

" O man, tyrannic lord!
How long shall prostrate nature groan beneath
Thy rage? "

Verily, we have our reward. The
bugs destroy our vines, the vermin rev-
el in our flowers, the worms destroy
our fruits, and the insects prey on the
foliage of our shade-trees. These pests,
we admit, are not yet so prevalent on
our slope as in the East, but we fear, if
we do not check our children in their
" sport," in a short time we shall be as
badly off as our friends there.

The number of Oranges brought to
San Francisco from Tahiti since Jan. 1,
1876, is 4,173,000.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

223

SUMMER PRUNING OF FRUIT TREES.

It is singular that so little attention
is paid by cultivators to the summer
pruning of fruit-trees. This, we pre-
sume, is owing to custom having made
it a general rule to prune trees in the
spring. The system is, however, a bad
one, in a certain measure, which may
be readily seen by a little observation.
For instance, all trees are liable to
make suckers from the centre, which
exhaust the substance of it and are
useless; every one agrees, by common
consent, that useless shoots should be
cut out, and it is yearly done in the en-
suing spring after they have impover-
ished the tree; hence they are deprived
of about one-fifth of their substance
annually. If these shoots were regu-
larly cut out early, after making some
growth, say in May or June, the sub-
stance that they exhaust would go to
nourish the other branches and fruit.

In the second place, trees, grape-
vines, shrubs, etc., often become very
thick of wood in the summer, especial-
ly when they are in confined places; all
the young wood that is formed in this
state is weak and helpless, because it
can not receive the sun and air suffi-
ciently to properly mature it; this, too,
like the suckers, deprives the tree of a
portion of its nutriment, or at least
that portion of it that is to bear the
succeeding season. This useless wood
becomes weak and sickly, the leaves
turn yellow, and are a nursery for vari-
ous kinds of insects, and according to
custom is pruned out of the tree the
following spring; when common sense
tells us it ought to be taken from the
tree in summer, in order to give the
substance it has deprived the tree of to
the proper branches.

We do not contend that the summer
is the season for the general pruning

of trees; for we prefer the spring for
this business. But whenever trees or
vines are thickly crowded with summer
wood, or any shoots, as suckers or
straggling branches, that cause trees to
grow of irregular shape, it should be a
general rule to displace them, in order
to keep the tree shapely and healthy.

Thinning of fruit, when young, is
essentially requisite in order that it
may grow to its proper size and quali-
ty. It often happens, when the spring
is propitious to fruit, that the trees and
vines are so loaded that it is impossible
for the tree to render it proper suste-
nance, so that the fruit neither forms of
proper size or quality. This is often
the case after a failure the previous sea-
son, owing to which the trees are fur-
nished, in the interval of rest, with a
superabundance of fruit-buds or spurs;
hence we often see alternate crops of
fruit, which should be as much as pos-
sible counteracted by trimming out a
goodly portion of fruit, when such
abundant crops appear. This adds
much to the quality and flavor of the
fruit, and is also of a material use to
the tree, in order to give it vigor to
furnish fruit-buds for another season
in a healthy state, which are weakened
by a superabundant crop of fruit, and
are often the cause of failure the next
season. When sickly trees are over-
burdened with fruit, which is often the
case, owing to weakness, they should
be well thinned, in order that what is
left may be well matured, for it is very
evident that when fruit drops off the
tree half grown, it has exhausted it in
a measure to a useless purpose.

MOSS ROSES.

A few days ago a friend informed us
that Moss Roses made their first ap-
pearance in his garden, in this city, on

224

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

the 29th of April, and that the last bud
was taken off two months later. We
can testify that they were as handsome
buds as we ever saw — fresh, unwither-
ed, and perfectly formed, with long and
delicate fronds. It is difficult to raise
well-formed Moss Rose-buds in this cli-
mate. In the interior the hot sun im-
mediately scorches them so that they
come to nothing. It requires a rather
sheltered and cool place, and this we
learn is the case with the locality where
these were cultivated. The yard is
well protected from the direct rays of
the sun, and lies lower than the sur-
rounding lots, so that it obtains all the
natural climatic conditions requisite for
the formation of handsome buds, and
there is nothing we admire so much in
the floral line as a full, gracefully-form-
ed and delicately-outlined Moss Rose-
bud.

ENGLISH GOOSEBERRIES.

Having been kindly invited by Mr.
James Benson, of the Odd Fellows'
Bank, to visit at his residence on How-
ard and 23rd Streets, his successful
growth and maturity of the above fruit
entirely free of mildew (a rare thing
on this continent), we had the pleasure
of seeing for ourselves some thirty
bushes of this delicious fruit in excel-
lent health and luxuriance, and bear-
ing for their age (only two years) a fair
crop. Mr. Benson cultivates four vari-
eties, three of which had finished fruit-
ing, and were past their time, but the
specimens we saw were of the sort call-
ed the White Smith, about the size of
a large Cherry Plum, only of course in
shape more elongated. The soil on
which they grow is a rich sandy loam,
the natural earth of that part of the
city. This soil was trenched, or has a
depth of about twenty-two inches, and

no manure whatever has been added to
it. The subsoil after that depth is a
yellow sandy clay, but not an impervi-
ous one or very hard. These plants
are grown in the bush form, which
seems the best for our climate, and the
mode generally adopted in England,
and also by Mr. Sandercock in Napa
Valley, another successful cultivator of
this generally uncertain fruit in the
United States, and whom we have be-
fore noticed in two of our previous
numbers. Mr. Benson's locality is a
rather sunny exposure between four
fences, but the bushes which are most
shaded have made the most luxuriant
growth. The excellence and value of
the large English Gooseberries makes
their successful culture of much im-
portance to the horticulturist, both for
his own use and for market. We see
but little reason why, with the climatic
and other advantages in some localities
which California possesses beyond the
rest, of the States, the terrible pest of
this useful fruit — the mildew — should
not, in many instances, at least, with
the requisite knowledge and pains, be
overcome and prevented.

Mr. Benson has a beautiful garden
of various thrifty fruits and flowers,
showing the natural richness of the
soil in that portion of the city, as well
as the industry and skill exercised by
him and his family in their cultivation,
being an interesting instance of ladies
giving flowers especially their care and
attention, and thereby promoting and
preserving their health and good spir-
its. Here we were pleased to see the
old English Southern Wood or " Old
Man," Yellow Broom, Lavender, the
Scotch Heath, and many other flowers
and plants, companions of our earliest
boyhood. How much do even the very
scents only of flowers and plants recall
the oldest memories and associations!

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

225

FRUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

Every year there is published by the
American Poinological Society (whose
President is our highly intelligent,
worthy, and esteemed friend, for many
years past, the venerable and Honora-
ble Marshall P. Wilder), a most valua-
ble fruit catalogue. It consists of over
40 pages, with descriptive lists of about
800 varieties of fruits cultivated all over
the Union in various localities. In
looking over this Catalogue as to Ap-
ples we observe the greatest number
of votes in the Society are given for
Red Astrachan and Maiden's Blush.
This tallies with these Apples having
been found by the most practical and
judicious cultivators in California to be
among the chief for profit for the mar-
ket. Neither of these sorts rank first-
rate for high quality or flavor, but they
are found to be the very best in the
majority of the States for general culti-
vation. The Swaarar and iEsopus Spit-
zenberg, on the contrary, stand low in
the ranks for the whole country, and
are not favorites on this slope. Growth
and productiveness are chiefly taken
into account in the judgment of Apples
as in other kinds of fruits. On this ac-
count the Winesap and Ben Davis take
a high position in this State. Other
popular names are American Summer
Pearmain, Carolina Red June, Duchess
of Oldenburgh, Early Harvest, Fall
Pippin, Farmeuse, Gravenstein, Hub-
bardston Nonesuch, Jonathan, Sweet
Bough, Roxbury Russet, the Summer
Rose, Fallman Sweet, and Twenty-
ounce Pippin, and in some places the
Newtown Pippin does well. These all
do passably well with us, though their
seasons of ripening are considerably al-
tered, and are much earlier on this

coast than in other parts of the United
States except portions of the South.

Pears do well in a far greater scope
of country than Apples. The Bartlett,
as is well known, flourishes in perfec-
tion in nearly all parts of the world
where the Pear is grown, better than
any other variety of that delicious fruit.
Then next comes the Seckel, Beurre
d'Anjou, Flemish Beauty, Lawrence,
Howell, Winter Nelis, Doyenne d'Ete,
Duchesse d'Angouleme, Belle Lucra-
tive, and Easter Beurre. These all
succeed well in California, with the ad-
dition of Glout Morceau, Vicar of
Winkfield, Onondaga, Buffum, Tyson,
Osband's Summer, and Giffard. As to
Grapes, our favored coast cultivates to
perfection every sort, native and for-
eign, for where in the United States is
so fine a climate to be found for them ?

As to Peaches, for the whole Union
there is nothing equal to Crawford's
Early and Crawford's Late. Next in
general esteem and value are Oldmix-
on Free, Oldmixon Cling, Large Early
York, Grosse Mignonne, and Cooledge's
Favorite.

Nearly all Cherries, except the earli-
est sour ones, as Early Richmond and
the Morellos, and this is chiefly owing
to these not being profitable for mar-
ket, do well in our State, but the fa-
vorite kinds seem to be Black Tartari-
an, Black Hawk, May Duke, Governor
Wood, Red and White Heart, Yellow
Spanish, and Napoleon Bigarreau.

Apricots of all varieties never fail
here except from frost, and that de-
stroys them merely in spots.

In Strawberries, for the whole coun-
try, the Wilson is the most popular
and succeeds best. But for California
there is no kind that can come up in
value and profit to Longworth's Prolif-
ic. Next are, for this State, Triomphe
de Gand, Keane's Seedling, Victoria,

226

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

British Queen, and Hovey's Seedling.
Among the Raspberries, the Mammoth
Cluster takes the lead for the whole
country. The Philadelphia has a large
vote in its favor also. Bat for Califor-
nia we prefer the Fastolf, Franconia,
and Red Antwerp.

As to Blackberries, the preference is
given in all parts of the Union, with
the Pacific Slope, to the Lawton, Wil-
son, Kittatinuy, and New Rochelle.

This brief notice by no means gives a
full view of the merits of this large
and admirable Fruit Catalogue, and
only points out a few of the most pop-
ular of our fruits among those which
have been extensively tested in the dif-
ferent States.

As to our markets: Many of our
readers must have noticed on the fruit
stands the difference in the a£>pearance
of different lots of Strawberries, some
having a peculiar brightness and glos-
siness, which renders them exceedingly
attractive, while .others have a dull,
dead appearance that is very unattract-
ive. The first we speak of is always
quickly sold at paying prices, while the.
last always " goes a begging" for pur-
chasers. " What is the reason for this
gloss?" you ask. Simply that the first
plants have been well irrigated, and
perhaps mulched. Mulching not only
keeps the fruit clean, but by keeping
the surface of the ground moist and
cool, and with the help of water being
at times allowed to percolate through
the patch, prevents the reflection of the
sun's rays from a dry, hot surface from
burning or scorching the fruit, and giv-
ing it this dull, dead, and faded ap-
pearance.

Nothing can excel the large size and
fine appearance of our best kinds of
Cherries this year, so unspotted and
free from the least blemish compared
with most of those in the Eastern

States. Then the mode here of pack-
ing them so regularly and closely in
oblong boxes, shows them off to the
greatest advantage. They are sold eith-
er by the box or the pound. With re-
gard to Strawberries once more, we will
state that a relative of ours with whom
we reside received from a friend living
near Alviso, a warm site for fruit, a
large basket of Victoria Strawberries.
We found them of a very large size,
of a rather deep red color, of fin-
er flavor than Longworth's Prolific,
and unlike it, with very little acidity,
and therefore requiring much less su-
gar; also, unlike the Prolific, their flesh
is white instead of red. It is a deli-
cious and splendid berry for home use,
as it is rather too tender for carriage to
market. The Keane's Seedling is near-
ly in all respects similar to it. The
Triomphe de Gand is of great size, also,
but is much better for transportation
to market. We would advise persons
who have country villas and gardens, to
cultivate the Victoria for their own
table. It is one of the most favorite
berries in England.

About the middle of last month
(June) there was a tendency generally
to a lower range of prices. Early
Peaches came in at the rate of 500 box-
es per day from Solano and Yolo Coun-
ties, and prices showed a correspond-
ing decline. A few packages arrived
from the Sacramento River, and as the
bulk of the supply for the market comes
from that locality, it may be of interest
to the public to know that the crop
will this season be large, and prices of
course low. Currants were plentiful
and cheap. The first Red Astrachan
Apples came in during the third week
in June, and sold by the single box at
$2.50. Green Apples were obtained
at $1.50 per box. Nearly all kinds of
vegetables were cheaper and generally

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

227

of improved quality. Choice String
Beans from Stockton, and Summer
Squash and Cucumbers from Alameda
County, have taken the place of the
poorer but earlier supplies from Solano
Count}\ The latter region, however,
had the monopoly of the Tomato trade.
Potatoes were more plentiful, and good
to choice by the single sack could be
had at $2 to $2.50 per 100 lbs., deliver-
ed.

There is now a long list of fruits and
vegetables in the market, nearly as
large as there will be, although about
August the list is highest. The more
fruits of course the greater reduction of
prices. About the 24th of last month
(June) Apricots, Peaches, Plums, and
Currants were more plentiful than oth-
er varieties, and the first two mention-
ed continued to arrive in increasing
abundance for some time. Raspberries
still came forward in limited quantities,
and were, therefore, not much cheaper
than they had been for several weeks.
The supply of Strawberries, Gooseber-
ries, and Cherries gradually decreased,
though without much change in prices,
owing to the abundance of other fruit.
The second crop of Strawberries came
in about the middle of last month, and
were of good size. We observed some
few boxes of the Victoria, a round-
shaped, rather dull red-colored berry,
but very rich in flavor, and with but
very little acidity compared with the
Longworth, but it is too soft to bear
carriage well. It is grown in limited
quantities on this account, but is a de-
licious fruit for home consumption.
About the 24th of Juue there were sev-
eral varieties of Plums in market, the
kinds being Coe's Golden Drop, June
Plums, Prince's Imperial Gage, and a
Blue variety from Placer County. Cher-
ry Plums continued to be very plenti-
ful. Ripe Early Harvest and Red As-

trachan Apples were abundant, and re-
tailed at 75 cents to $1 per basket, or
$1.50 per box. Tomatoes, Egg Plant,
Okra, and vegetables in general were
cheaper. Large quantities of Potatoes
were coming in, but very few of them
were ripe. The best sold by the sack
at $1.75 to $2 per 100 lbs., delivered.

On the 1st of this month (July) on ac-
count of the Centennial holiday, the
fruit and vegetable merchants made
great and particular exertions to pre-
sent a splendid exhibition of these use-
ful and delicious products on their
stalls, and every one will admit that
they fully succeeded in doing so, as
the display was vast, various, and ex-
cellent. The show was indeed exceed-
ingly attractive. Prices became gen-
erally lower under the quantities of
fruits and vegetables, and greatly in-
creased supplies. In what other part
of the United States could there be so
grand and brilliant a sight? The pri-
ces, in consequence of this abundance
and variety, tended downward. Peach-
es arrived regularly, but the receipts
were not sufficiently abundant at that
time to allow all classes to indulge free-
ly in them. By the basket good to
choice Hale's Early sold at $2.50 to $3.
Apricots were very plentiful, and could
be obtained by the single basket at 90c.
to $1.25. Choice ripe Apples sold by
the box, delivered, at $1.75 to $2.25.
A few Cantaleups and Watermelons
were received, but prices were high and
the quality rather inferior.

At about the time of our going to
press the general tendency of the fruit
market is still to lower prices. Peach-
es are coming forward in immense
quantities, and have been doing so for
some time, and have never been cheap-
er at this season of the year. Single
baskets of Hale's Early and Tillotson,
the principal varieties in market, can

228

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

be had at 75c. to $1.25, delivered.
Plums are also very abundant, and the
different varieties retail at 6 to 12^c,
while by the bos or basket they can be
had much" cheaper. Good Apples have
declined to $1.25 to $1.50 per box, and
Pears to $1 to $1.75. Raspberries, on
account of their going out of bearing,
are dear, beiDg about 25c. per small
box. Strawberries are moderate in
price, being a large second crop.
Grapes, white and black, are coming
in in moderate quantities.

WHAT THE PRIMROSE SAID.

Now, who that is wise and witty

Will tell this little maid
The thought - (it must have been pretty) —

And what the Primrose said? — Rural.

ANSWEB.

The Primrose peeped from its fragrant bud

One dewy morn in May,
To see the white clouds sailing

Like ships on the sunny bay;
But a fairer sight than snowy clouds,

Or ships on a summer sea,
Was that which greeted the Primrose bud

With a smile of winsome glee.

A blue-eyed maiden with golden hair,

And cheeks like the Rose in June,
Was smiling down on the opening bud

And singing a happy tune. #

And the Primrose said, " What a lovely world

Were it always sunny May ;
If flowers could blossom forever fair,

And hearts be always gay.
But the sweet blue eyes must learn to weep,

And hearts must break with woe,
Till they reach the blessed summer land

Where the fadeless Roses grow."

— Mrs. D. M. Jordan, 'Richmond, Ind.

Planting Teees. — California would
be greatly benefited in profit, beauty,
and comfort by adopting the Japanese
law, which requires every person who
cuts down a tree to plant another in
its stead. Several other countries en-

force such tree planting; but there is
no land which more than our own
needs laws to counteract the wasteful
destruction of trees for burning and
constructive purposes. If the natural
tastes of the people would incline them
to follow the example of those culti-
vated and patriotic gentlemen who are
planting out trees this year in com-
memoration of the Centennial, it would
answer all the purposes of an enforced
practice of the kind by law. Judge
Davis, of the United States Supreme
Court, has caused a tree for every day
in the year to be planted this year on
his farm in Illinois ; and Mr. Wm. M.
Evarts, a gentleman of equal eminence,
has set out 594 new evergreens on his
grounds at Windsor, Vermont, in com-
memoration of the year. It is to be
hoped such examples will commend
themselves to the judicial and legal
gentleman of San Francisco who pos-
sess landed estates, as well as to all
the rest of California's population. —
Gall.

Tahiti. — As the island is just now
filling our markets with its fruits, it
will be interesting to our fruit growers
and consumers to catch a glimpse of
the land whence the fruit comes. An
enthusiastic French traveler writes :
" The appearance of the shores of Ta-
hiti offers a grand variety of natural
beauties. A happy combination of land
and water, of precipices, of plains, of
trees reflecting the thick foliage upon
the limpid waters, of lofty mountains
delineating their profiles on the clear
sky, gives to the spectator delightful
sensations. Thousands of trees pro-
duce excellent fruit, which only de-
mand that a man put out his hand to
gather them. The landscape is pleas-
ing with the shade of Orange and Cit-
ron trees." We doubt not since the

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTUKIST.

229

da}' when the writer visited the island
the Tahitans have learned from their
commerce that fruit is too valuable to
hang where any one could put a hand
to it, but we have good evidence of the
choice fertility of the soil and the bear-
ing of the trees, from the stores which
ships are almost daily unloading at our
wharves.

Selection of Pelargoniums. — Messrs.
G\ B., of Hackensack, ask us, among
the golden and silver variegated and
plain Zonales, to name those we should
select as the finest of their sections.
We have often thought, as we have
passed through the immense glass-
houses of several of our florists exclu-
sively devoted to Pelargoniums, and
have endeavored to make distinctions
by which we could fix the names, that
three-quarters of all might be destroy-
ed as inferior to the others, or so near-
ly alike as not to be worth the trouble
of either a name or of preservatian. In
the silver variegated section, for in-
stance, there are dozens so nearly alike
that it is impossible to name them at
sight without that sort of microscopic
study that has enabled many pomolo-
gists to distinguish hundreds of varie-
ties of fruit-trees from a close observ-
ance of color and the texture of the
bark. And the same may be said of
the other sections.

Ammonia for Verbenas. — Sulphate of
ammonia is an excellent manurial liquid
to apply to Verbenas and other flowers,
giving to the foliage a dark green, lux-
uriant and healthy appearance. It is
economical, clean, and easily applied.
Prepare it in the evening before using,
by dissolving one ounce of ammonia in
two gallons of water. It may be ap-
plied with safety about once a week.

Pea nut Oil. — During the war the
people of the South were thrown upon
their own resources to an extent which
resulted in developing some industries
that otherwise they might never have
even dreamed of. One was the manu-
facture of oil from Pea nuts, to take the
place of Olive oil for table and other
household purposes. It gradually be-
came popular, and is now in large de-
mand. It supplies the place of Almond
and Olive oils for various uses, and is
lower in price, retains its purity and fla-
vor for a long time, and is less suscept-
ible to the effect of light than Olive oil.
The oil is extracted entirely from the
meat of the nut by pressure, the refuse
being used as a cattle feed or a fertil-
izer.

Culture of Native Flowers! — Every
one who desires to remove from the
woods, and other wild localities, the
finest native flowers, should mark the
spots where the roots may be found
after the blooming season has ceased.
This should be done while plants are
made conspicuous by their blossoms.
Small stakes inserted in the ground at
each plant will show where they are.
Early spring flowers have now passed,
but many, are coming out, and more are
to follow. Our ornamental gardens
should not be made up exclusively of
exotics; we have many American plants
of surpassing grace and beauty, which,
interspersed in the wilder portions of
grounds, add greatly to their attrac-
tions.

Suckers in Apple Orchards. — The re-
mark is often made that the suckers of
Apple-trees, made use of as stocks to
graft in, are apt to produce suckers.
Suckers should never be used for stocks,
but if they are, they should be taken

230

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

from trees producing the fewest. To
clear suckers from orchard trees they
should not be cut off, for new shoots
will spring from every stub left. The
right way is to keep the ground smooth,
mellow and clean; and then, about the
middle season of growth, or during the
first half of summer, put on thick cow-
hide boots, and stout buckskin mittens,
seize one sucker at a time, placing the
boot upon it close to the tree, give a
sudden jerk with the hands, and it will
be torn out root and branch leaving no
stump. An occasional repetition of
this process will keep the orchard clear.
Suckers always give a slovenly appear-
ance to an orchard, and should not be
suffered to grow. They also favor the
depredations of the borer. — Country
Gentleman.

A New Blackberry. — The Russian
River Flag says: Eld. Richard Corba-
ley has a rare native Blackberry, which
he has cultivated and greatly improved.
It is about two weeks earlier than the
ordinary wild variety of this locality.
The fruit resembles the Dewberry, but
has the flavor of the black-cap Raspber-
ry. Mr. Corbaley has about 60 stools
of this variety in bearing, and from
present indications will be able to plant
quite extensively next season. It is
his purpose to cultivate this variety for
market. The berry is fair sized and
very firm — qualities which will add to
its value for shipment.

To Preserve a Bouquet. — The Amer-
ican Artisan says : * ' When you receive
a bouquet, sprinkle it with fresh water ;
then put it into a vessel containing
some soap suds, which nourish the
roots and keep the flowers as good as
new. Take the bouquet out of the
suds every morning and lay it always

in fresh water, the stock entering first
into the water. Keep it there a min-
ute or two, then take it out and sprin-
kle the flowers lightly by the hand
with pure water. Replace the bouquet
in soap suds, and the flowers will bloom
as fresh as when first gathered. The
soap suds need to be changed every
third day. By observing these rules, a
bouquet may be kept bright and beau-
tiful for at least one month, and will
last longer in a very passable state ;
but the attention to the fair but frail
creatures, as directed above, must be
strictly observed, or ' the last Rose of
summer' will not be 'left blooming
alone,' but will perish."

Tree Wash. — The following is the
recipe for a wash for orchards, used by
Wm. Saunders, of the government gar-
dens at Washington : Put half a bush-
el of lime and four pounds of powder-
ed sulphur in a tight barrel, slaking
the lime with hot water, the mouth of
the barrel being covered with a cloth ;
this is reduced to the consistency of
ordinary whitewash, and at the time of
application half an ounce of carbolic
acid is added to each gallon of the li-
quid. Mr. Saunders says: "I gen-
erally apply it in„the spring before the
leaves make their appearance, but I am
convinced that it would be more effect-
ive if applied later, but then it is so dif-
ficult to do so when the tree is in foli- •
age." Apply to trunk ; it will not hurt
the branches or foliage if applied to
them also.

Rosewood. — It has puzzled many peo-
ple to decide why the dark wood so
highly valued for furniture should be
called Rosewood. Its color certainly
does not look much like a Rose; so we
must look for some other reason. Up-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

231

on asking, we are told that when the
tree is first cut the fresh wood possesses
a very strong, Rose-like fragrance —
hence the name. There are half a doz-
en or more kinds of Rosewood trees.
The varieties are found in South Amer-
ica, and in the East Indies and neigh-
boring islands. Sometimes the trees
grow so large that planks four feet
broad and ten feet in length can be cut
from them. These broad tops are prin-
cipally used to make the tops of piano-
fortes. When growing in the forest the
Rosewood tree is remarkable for its
beauty; but such is its value in manu-
factures as an ornamental wood, that
some of the forests where it once grew
abundantly now have scarcely a single
specimen. In Madras the Government
has prudently had great plantations of
this wood set out, in order to keep up
the supply.

Bananas. — The San Diego Times says :
Mr. J. M. Asher, of the Fruit Vale
nursery, has just received five barrels
of the Cavendish dwarf Banana bulbs
from Florida. This Banana has been
domesticated twelve years in Florida.
It comes from middle China, and is
well adapted to this climate, having
been already tested at different places
in Los Angeles county. Colonel Whit-
ner, the "Banana king," says: "If
frost-bitten the first year they will
spring from the root and bear fruit the
second year." Mr. Asher will dispose
of a part of these bulbs, and it is desir-
able that their culture should be tested
in different parts of the county. There
is little doubt of their success and their
introduction and successful culture in
this county. They require to be plant-
ed four feet apart; after they start give
water, manure, and attention ad libi-
tum; plant two inches under the
ground, in rich soil.

Recipe for Crystallizing Grasses. —
One pound of alum, pulverize and dis-
solve in a quart of water; but do not
let it boil; pour the solution into a deep
earthen jar, and let it stand until about
blood warm. Fasten your grasses with
strings to a stick laid across the top of
the jar, set away in a cool place where
they will not be disturbed for twelve
hours, then take them out and let them
drain. For blue crystals use indigo or
washing blue; for yellow, boil a few
saffron leaves in a little water, and mix
it with the alum water; for pink or red,
use Prussian red — the more you use the
brighter the color. The solution may
be heated over and used until all the
alum is gone. Be sure and have your
grasses perfectly dry before putting
them in the water. Press some green
and autumn leaves to put in your bou-
quets. Some Bitter-sweet berries, if
you can get them, will be quite an ad-
dition.— Indiana Farmer.

Staining Growing Wood. — Professor
Stebbing, in a letter to one of the pho-
tographic journals, declares that, ere
long, we shall be able to have all our
furniture — even articles of common deal
— of such a beautiful color as to .throw
out of fashion mahogany and other for-
eign woods. A Frenchman has discov-
ered a new method of compelling the
tree to color itself. He operates upon
it at the moment when the sap is rising
after its winter repose to give life and vi-
tality to the branches. He introduces
a chemical (how?) into this vivifying
agent, and it distributes the coloring
composition through every pore and fi-
bre of the tree! When the coloration
is terminated the knots and veins con-
tain such a multitude of shades, har-
monizing one with the other, that fur-
niture made of it has at once a strange
and fascinating appearance.

232

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

A Simple Disinfectant. — One^pound
of green copperas, costing seven cents,
dissolved in one quart of water, and
poured down a water-closet, will effect-
ually concentrate and destroy the foul-
est smells. On board ships and steam-
boats, about hotels and other public
places, there is nothing so nice to puri-
fy the air. Simple green copperas, dis-
solved in anything, will render a hospi-
tal, or other place for the sick, free
from unpleasant smells. In fish-mar-
kets, slaughter-houses, sinks, and
wherever there are offensive gases, dis-
solve copperas and sprinkle it about,
and in a few days the smell will all
pass away. If a cat, rat, or mouse dies
about the house, and sends forth an of-
fensive gas, place some dissolved cop-
peras in an open vessel near the place
where the nuisance is, and it will pur-
ify the atmosphere. Then, keep all
clean.

Bulbs after Floweeing. — "When
bulbs, such as Hyacinths, Crocus, etc.,
have been flowered in water, they
should, as soon as the flowers begin to
fade, be removed and planted in earth,
where they will get a little nourishment.
Even -then the bulb is much weakened,
and it is useless to try to flower bulbs in
water twice. All bulbs with annual
roots, which includes pretty much all
but the Lilies, can be taken up as soon
as the leaves become ripe and brown,
and be stowed away without the least
injury to the flowers of the next season,
because the roots will die if the bulbs
are allowed to remain in the ground.
After taking them up, allow them to
dry in the shade for a few days. Then
remove the tops, roots, and rough skin,
and put them away in paper bags,
properly labeled, in- a cool place in the
house until planting time in the au-
tumn.— Vick's Floral Guide.

Tree Mignonette. — This is by some
supposed to be a distinct variety from the
common kind grown in the garden, but
it is not. The tree form is due to care-
ful pruning and attention, and there is
no variety of Mignonette which will as-
sume a tree form without constant care.
The way to raise a " tree " Mignonette
is to sow the seed as usual, and when
the plants are about two inches high,
select one of the strongest, and plant
in a pot or box by itself, and keep it
well supported by a stake. Every side
branch that appears must be pinched
off, but the leaves must be allowed to
remain on the main stem as they are
needed for the health of the plant.
When the plant is about a foot or more
in height, the side shoots may be per-
mitted to grow, but they must have
their heads pinched off occasionally to
force them to form a bushy top. It
will take some months to accomplish
this, but it will make a beautiful plant.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,

Fob the Month ending June 30, 1876.

(Prepared for The Hoktictji/tubist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chrononieter-maker, No.
18 Market Street.)

BAEOMETEB.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.05 in.

do 12 m 30.05

do 3 p. m 30.04

do 6p.m 30.04

Highest point on the 7th at 12 m 30.17

Lowest point on the 27th at 12 m 29.89

THEEMOMETEE.
( With north exposure and free, from reflected heat.)

Mean height at 9 a. m 66°

do 12 m 72°

do 3 p.m 72°

do 6 p. m 66°

Highest point on the 12th at 1 p. m 95c

Lowest point on the 4th at 9 a. m 57°

SELF - EEGISTEEING THEEMOMETEE.

Mean height during the night 51°

Highest point at sunrise on the 13th 64°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 4th 45°

WINDS.
North and north-west on 3 days; south-west on 4
days; east and south-east on 4 days; west on 19 days.

WEATHEE.
Clear all day 18 days; cloudy all day 3 days; variable
on 10 days; rain on 1 day.

BAIN GAUGE. Inches.

20th 0.02

Previously reported 25.99

Total for the season 26.01

yVLissioN of San Luis Obispo.

r

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI.

SAN FRANCISCO, AUGUST, 1876.

No. 8.

FLOKA OF JAPAN.

[continued.]
The forest trees principally consist of
large Elms, which have the appearance
of Ulmus campestris, so very common
north of Europe. This tree attains a
large size, averaging about four feet in
diameter, and is most valuable for build-
ing purposes. A large area is covered
with deciduous Oak, consisting of Quer-
cus serrata ; the beautifully leaved Quer-
cus dentata, with a third kind. A large
Ash, growing about 100 feet high, is a
very striking feature. Also, numbers of
large "Walnut, which is cut up into
boards, and used for insides of build-
ings, where it is considered handsome.
Large Magnolias and Cercidiphyllum
grow abundantly. There is a repre- ^
sentative of the Snowball family, Vibur-
num phlebotrichium. Also, Sophora Ja-
ponica, with a tree like a Syringa.
There is an Elm, from which is made a
strong fibre woven into a kind of cloth,
which is much in use. For dyeing yel-
low and red they have a species of Ash
and Alder. They have three kinds of
Birch, one used for torches, and the
other for fastening together boards of
boats. Two kinds of Linden are very
Vol. VI.— 16.

conspicuous. Coniferous trees grow
only on the high elevations. They con-
sist of two kinds. On the borders of
streams there are three different kinds
of shrubby Viburnum. A large Lily of
peculiar appearance forms, together
with the Lilium giganteum, a separate
section of this genus, as it differs from
other Lilies. It is frequently found in
swampy places- Its leaves are very
large, and its flower stalks very often
attain a height of ten feet or more,
bearing large flowers of a greenish
white color outside; the inside is pure
white, with purple spots at the base of
each petal. It propagates solely from
seed. According to Siebold's Flora Ja-
ponica, it is Lilium cordifolium. There
are several handsome herbaceous Spi-
raeas, one bearing red berries, another
with white flowers about six feet high.
Under the shade of trees there grows a
Campanulacea of climbing habit, with
flowers resembling a diminutive Coboea
— Campanulacea lanciolata. There are
in the mountains a number of terrestri-
al orchids — Cypripedum, Epipactis, Li-
paris, and other small, evidently inter-
esting species. In Ferns the woods
abound with a very large smoothed
leaved Scolopendrium. A climbing

234

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Hydrangea, the Schizphragma, the
Ampelopsis, a kind of Virginian Creep-
er, and Vitis labrusca, the wild Grape,
as well as an Actinidia with edible
fruit (Kokuwa), are here frequently
met with. There is a very common
herb, a Plantago. The forest trees
principally consist of Maple trees, of
which there are at least three kinds.
One is a Sugar Maple. The Mistletoe
is found abundantly on some of the
Oaks. Shallow ponds of some extent
are formed in the woods, and possess a
vegetation of their own. Rushes and
small Ferns and the blue flowering
Pontederia are the principal occupants
of these moist localities. The deejser
ponds are covered with the leaves of
Nymphcea tetragona.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF INSECTS.

BY ENTOMOLOGIST.

When the great increase lately of
noxious and destructive insects in Cali-
fornia is considered, some knowledge of
their appearance and habits becomes
very important to the horticulturist and
farmer. The advent of the nest and
other caterpillars among our orchards
and shade trees, such as our Oaks es-
pecially, which for two or three years
past have swarmed in immense quanti-
ties, renders it very desirable that we
should all know something concerning
them. (The Live Oaks in Napa Valley
this spring were covered with these
pests). We will, therefore, present to
our readers a description of the opera-
tions and transformation of this class of
insects. The metamorphoses of cater-
pillars and other races of insects offer
some of the most curious and wonder-
ful of nature's phenomena for study
and contemplation. The degree of
change or metamorphosis is very differ-
ent in different groups of insects. In

its most complete form, as exemplified
in the butterflies, moths, beetles, and
many other insects, the transformation
takes place in three distinct changes.
In the first, which is called the larva
state, the insect has the form of a grub,
sometimes furnished with feet, as in
the nest caterpillar, and sometimes des-
titute of those organs. Different forms
of insects in this state are popularly
known as caterpillars, grubs, and mag-
gots. During this period of its exist-
ence, the whole business of the insect
is eating, which it usually does most
voraciously, changing its skin repeated-
ly, to allow for the rapid increase in
its bulk; and after remaining in this
form for a certain time, which varies
greatly in different species, it passes to
the second period of its existence, in
which it is denominated a pupa. In
this condition the insect is perfectly
quiescent, neither eating nor moving.
It is sometimes completely inclosed in
a horny case, in which the position of
the limbs of the future insect is indi-
cated by ridges and prominences; some-
times covered with a case of a softer
consistence, which fits closely round
the limbs, as well as the body, thus
leaving the former a certain amount of
freedom. Pupos of this description are
sometimes inclosed within the dried lar-
va skin, which thus forms a horny case
for the protection of its tender and
helpless inmate. After lying in this
manner, with scarcely a sign of life, for
a longer or shorter period, the insect,
arrived at maturity, bursts forth from
its prison in the full enjoyment of all
its faculties. It is then said to be in
the imago or perfect state. This meta-
morphosis is one of the most remarka-
ble phenomena in the history of insects,
and was long regarded as perhaps the
most marvelous thing in nature; al-
though recent researches have shown

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

235

that the history of many of the lower
animals presents us with circumstances
equally if not more wonderful ; never-
theless, the transformations of the high-
er insects is a phenomenon which can
not fail to arrest our attention. To see
the same animal appearing first as a
soft, worm-like creature, crawling slow-
ly along, although some of them can
travel quite fast, and devouring every-
thing of vegetation that comes in its
way, with the exception of some kinds
of plants, and then, after an interme-
diate period of death-like repose, emerg-
ing from its quiescent state, furnished
with wings and painted plumes, adorn-
ed with brilliant colors, and confined
in its choice of food to the most deli-
cate fluids of the vegetable kingdom, is
a spectacle that must be regarded with
the highest interest, especially when
■we remember that these dissimilar crea-
tures are all composed of the same ele-
ments, and that the principal organs of
the adult animal were in a measure
shadowed out in its previous changes.
Nor is the singularity of their natural
history the only claim that these in-
sects have upon our attention. Lowly
as they seem in point of organization,
there are few animals that exceed them
in •commercial importance. The finest
dyes known to our manufacturers are
derived from insects. "We have not
space to enumerate even a few of them,
but of all secretions peculiar to insects,
silk may well be regarded as the most
valuable. The fluid, before it comes
in contact with the air, is viscous and
transparent in the young larva or worm,
but thick and opaque in the more ma-
ture. It is found, by chemical analy-
sis, to be chiefly composed of bombic
acid, a gummy matter, a portion of a
substance resembling wax, and a little
coloring matter. Silk may be placed
in boiling water without undergoing

I any change; the strongest acids are re-
! quired to dissolve it; and it has never
J yet been imitated artificially. ' A great
variety of scents, which from their
agreeable odors are much used in per-
fumery, are manufactured by insects.
That substance or gut-line used by an-
glers is made from the organ which se-
cretes the silky matter for the purpose
of forming the cocoon. The caterpil-
lar of the silk worm, at a certain age of
its existence, spins around it a fine silk-
en cocoon (the silk of commerce), in
which it passes the pupa or chrysalis
state, preparatory to its issuing again
into a winged moth. Now, just previ-
ous to the commencement of this co-
coon, which may be known by the
worm ceasing to eat, and while the
body of the grub is replete with the
silky secretion, they are killed by a mo-
mentary immersion in boiling water;
and on laying hold of each extremity,
and pulling the body of the grub mod-
erately, it will generally separate near
the centre, and disclose to view a green-
ish, white-colored gut, which is not an
intestine or entrail. This gut-like or-
gan is taken by the extremities, and.
gradually extended until the requisite
length and tenuity are obtained, when
the ends are wound round wire pins
fixed along each side of a board of the
proper width; then exposed to dry and
consolidate in the air and sunshine.
Of course the greater the extension,
the longer and finer the lengths of the
gut will be. Out ought to be as round
and smooth as wire. Gut of this de-
scription is incredibiy strong compared
to its dimensions.

The well known plant, Spartianthus
junceus, has lately been utilized in the
south of Europe in the manufacture of
textile fabrics, and has been found suit-
able for the finest cloths.

236

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

VASES AND VASE PLANTS.

BY FLOEIST.

The introduction of vases, tazzas,
baskets, rustic wood basins, stumps,
etc. , either of worked stone, or the va-
rious imitations of it, of porcelain, of
wire, iron, and other materials, have
now so general an introduction into
garden scenery, more especially into
those laid out in the geometric style in
cities and other rural seats and places,
that a few words on the position they
should occupy, and the plants most
suitable for placing in them, may not
perhaps be unacceptable to the readers
of the Hobticulturist.

In gardens designed to form an arch-
itectural adjunct to the mansion, and
which should, therefore, be carried out
agreeably with the order which charac-
terizes the principal building, vases,
etc., will form a considerable feature,
and are indispensable to relieve the
sameness of long lines of low walls,
fences, and balustrading, and when in
due proportion to the size of the ped-
e'stals on which they are placed, and
filled with suitable plants, form elegant
objects, in addition to breaking up hor-
izontal lines of masonry or wood work.
In all architectural gardens, either in
connection -with the mansion or assum-
ing that character when detached, vases
and their accompaniments are appro-
priate embellishments, both for sur-
mounting pedestals on low walls and
for introducing into the component
parts of the design, where they may be
arranged either for centres or to occu-
py subordinate positions in the com-
partments devoted to flowering plants.
Neither do we know of anything which
conveys so much of the truly ornament-
al as vases, when placed at intervals on
each side the long gravel or grass walks

prevalent in this style of gardening.
In all cases, the vases should be large
enough to hold sufficient soil to keep
the plants in health ; and the pedestals
on which they are mounted snould be
strictly in keeping with the character of
the vase. "We prefer vases rather large
than the reverse, for we must enter our
protest against the miserable dished-up
plants which are sometimes seen strug-
gling for existence, for want of water
and earth to grow in.

But it is not solely for the terrace or
formal garden that vases are appropri-
ate ; there are many situations in scen-
ery purely English in style of landscape
gardening (or in the natural form),
where vases may be introduced with
the happiest effect ; for instance, at the
junction of gravel or other walks, or
where these latter are compelled to ter-
minate abruptly, a vase or seat affords a
suitable excuse. The angles formed by
the sudden sweep of a walk, and cor-
ners not otherwise filled up and backed
by masses of planting, are positions
which first occur to us as affording sites
for vases in natural scenery, where their
introduction will not offend the eye of
taste. On the contrary, these should
never be placed in open parts of the
lawn or grass plot, where their isolation
from architectural accompaniments
would be manifest, and where, besides,
masonry in any form would interfere
with repose and breadth, both essential
features in this style of gardening. It
follows, then, that in natural scenery,
either real or imitated, vases should be
placed in immediate connection with
gravel walks, which will form a kind of
base for them, or at no great distance
therefrom ; or only where their employ-
ment as objects to fill up otherwise va-
cant places, affords a reason for deviat-
ing from the general rule ; and on no
account should they be placed as single

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

237

objects on lawns unconnected with ma-
sonry or walks.

Having given our ideas on situations,
we will point out what we consider the
most suitable plants for filling them.
On this point much misconception ex-
ists, and we know that gardeners are
often compelled to fill vases, etc., with
plants by no means the most eligible
for the purpose ; but as custom has
made it somewhat the law, we merely
notice it for the purpose of pointing out
what we consider would be an improve-
ment on the prevailing practice of mere-
ly filling them with Geraniums of all
colors, and other unsuitable but showy
plants, and which we admit produce a
blaze of bloom, but which, in point of
grace and elegance, must certainly yield
to many others.

Considering a vase, when tastefully
planted, as one of the most graceful and
classic objects in the flower garden, we
should select such plants, which, from
their habit of growth, will harmonize
best with the situation they are to fill.
Nor does it require very expensive plants
to create such a beautiful combination
of form (if not of color), having seen a
vase filled with common Ferns produce
a most charming effect ; and those who
grow exotic Ferns will readily perceive
what elegant groups they would make,
if transferred to a vase. But we must
try and see if there is nothing else that
will well answer our purpose. First,
there is a plant, Agapanthus umbellatus
— the blue African Lily and its allies.
Good plants of these transferred in
April or May, and well supplied with
water (for the plant is a sub-aquatic),
form fine objects. Their sword -like
and peculiar broad and round- ended
leaves bend gracefully over the rim of
the vase, and, crowned with umbrels of
bright blue flowers, render them as con-
spicuous as they are graceful and im-

posing. Next, we have Trilonia aurea,
and certainly this is a beautiful plant
for the purpose ; it requires putting in
thick ; but its bright orange - colored
flowers and slender leaves make it a
very desirable plant for the purpose.
Phormium tenax (New Zealand Flax),
fine specimens of which may be seen in
the post office grounds in this city, is
another suitable plant, for its foliage
(its flowers are not strikingly beautiful),
although it requires a very large vase,
as in time it grows to an immense size.
Some of the Yuccas are also very suita-
able. As regards these latter, the best
plan is to select those showing bloom,
when they are really splendid objects,
with their cream- colored, bell-like flow-
ers all along the stems. There are
many other sword -leaved plants, in-
cluding Irises and the Century Plant,
particularly the golden- edged leafed
one, well adapted for our purpose.
Nor should we forget the Acanthus,
for their classic association, which, to
those who may wish to make the trial,
will suggest themselves as eligible ; and
we shall be glad to hear that these hints,
loosely thrown together, may induce
some to select them, and obtain some
of these vases, now so varied in shape,
although there are many other nice
plants, both large and small, which are
quite, and, perhaps, more suitable.
We will now name a few creeping
plants adapted for planting round the
principal ; these will creep over the
rim, and may then be left either to
grow in their own way, or to be trained
so as to form festoons round the base,
such as Ivy, etc., Lophospermus, two or
three kinds, Maurandyas, blue, red, and
white, Tropoeolum pentaphyllum and spe-
ciosum, Calystegia pubescens, Lysima-
chia nummularia, white (Loose-strife),
Campanula fragilis, Lobelius Erinus and
unidentata, and now many other newer

238

THE CALIFOENIA HOBTICULTUEIST.

plants are used, and are useful and very
ornamental for small vases and baskets.
But for these latter there are many
plants peculiarly well adapted. We
will here name a few : Coleus verschaf-
feltii, Centaur ea Candida, Sedum Siebol-
dii, Lobelia Erinus, Paxtoni, Achyran-
thes Gitsonii, Alyssum dentatum variega-
tum, Alternanthera spathulata, Pyre-
thrum (Golden Feather). These are
rather upright plants. For drooping
plants : Vinca elegantisdma aurea, Ce-
rastium tomentosum, Convolvolus manrit-
aniens, Solanum jasminoides variegatum,
Punicum variegatum, etc. Moss should
be spread over the bottom and sides of
the basket, so as to hold the water as
long as possible.

FLOWER GARDENING.

Santa Barbara, July 22, 1876.
Editor Horticulturist : — Thinking
some of my experience in my flower-
garden may please some of your read-
ers, I will give you what occurs to me
now, and if you find it of any use, will
occasionally send little items. Bead-
ing an English paper to-day, I see they
recommend a free use of wood ashes
well spaded into the soil as a fertilizer.
I used them so a year ago, and lost a
very valuable plant.* Boses will thrive,
and be greatly benefited by their use,
but I do not find them so around other
flowers. Sand, iron scales, and soot I
use for all other plants, and have nev-
er found it to injure anything; while
no one can show finer Bosebuds or
healthier foliage, finer Carnations, Fuch-
sias, or Heliotropes. About every three
months I give each plant about two
quarts of liquid hen manure, the color
of tea, and plenty of water (a good
soaking, by letting the hose lie on the

* The ashes should have been leached. — Ed.

flower borders, and water running slow-
ly for twelve hours), then, as the sur-
face begins to dry, pass a rake or push
a hoe over it, which also loosens and
helps to remove the weeds. Flower-
ing plants grow here winter and sum-
mer, if given a fair chance — such Pond
Lilies, Cape Jessamines (I don't fancy
the name Gardenia), Bouvardias, etc.
Mine bloom every month in the year,
and I cut plentifully from Davidsonia
all last winter. We had a Tuberose
stalk forty-five inches at New Year's
morn, with thirty blooms on it and one
open. "White Heliotrope and the very
dark shade bloom continually. Bou-
vardias will grow in a sunny spot with
the same culture that a common Ger-
anium requires, if, after removing it
from the crock, it is never allowed to
get dry ; and if taken from a glass
house it should be partially shaded a
week or more.

I am now experimenting with Passi-
flora princeps. I turned it out in the
flower bed last September, and it made
but little growth. During December
it lost all its leaves, but is now growing
quite vigorously, although I do not ex-
pect it to bloom this summer. It is a
little shaded by being too near a large
running Bose, and in December next I
shall move it to full sunshine and give
it a sandier soil (made to order), as our
soil is very heavy and needs much care-
ful culture. Another beautiful flower
that is seldom seen out of a glass
house, though as easily cultivated as a
Bose, is Tecoma jasminoides. It would
not perhaps stand much frost, but lov-
ers of new flowers in Southern Califor-
nia can have the pleasure of growing it.
Mrs. G. E. Chtlds.

Texas may claim the championship
for huge watermelons, fifty-pounders
being no rarity in that State.

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

239

Ifofl and (&\m.

SPORTSMEN'S CLUB OF CALIFOENIA.

This club, whose career commenced
quietly but very auspiciously, will un-
questionably .take a leading place among
the sterling institutions of California.
Its objects, which are, fundamentally,
the preservation of fish and game from
the marauders who of late years have,
with seeming impunity, been systemat-
ically violating the game laws, are such
as commend it not only to all true
sportsmen, but to the whole community.
That such an institution has not been
organized in San Francisco long ago is
to us matter of much surprise, especial-
ly in view of the fact that in the lead-
ing cities of the Eastern States institu-
tions of a kindred character have for
many years past been in active and em-
inently successful operation. Of course,
the Sportsmen's Club of California de-
pends for its membership, as all such
clubs do, on those gentlemen who are
lovers of the royal sports of the field
and the stream. It was in the month
of February last that some fifteen or
twenty such met, in a quiet way, to talk
over the question of starting the club,
a task which was resolved and immedi-
ately entered upon, and found very
much easier of accomplishment than
was anticipated. The club's charter
members (who consisted of such gen-
tlemen as were invited by the prime

movers to join it) soon numbered sixty-
eight, and the subscription books were
then closed, it being resolved that fu-
ture applicants for membership should
be voted on in the same manner as in
other clubs. At the first regular meet-
ing of the members, on May 2d, no
fewer than sixty-two candidates were
voted for and elected. At the meeting-
in June fifty more were added to the
list, in July six, and in August five. Of
the number two are life-members, and
the total membership in good standing
at the present time is about one hun-
dred and sixty, which includes many of
our most prominent and respected citi-
zens. This is a wonderful showing, and
a remarkable progress in so short a time.
The club's financial condition is equally
satisfactory, there being at the end of
July near]y $2,000 in the treasury, and
no debts to pay.

But in addition to its being a conserv-
ator of the game laws — seeing that they
are properly enforced and that violators
of them are brought to punishment —
the club has several valuable fishing
preserves and kindred advantages for
the exclusive benefit of its members.
Its fishing preserves include those of
Lakes Merced, Pilarcitos, and San An-
dreas, all of which are leased from the
Spring Valley Water Company at a rea-
sonable figure. At Merced there is a
comfortable club-house, with sleeping
accommodation for sixteen persons, and

240

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

in each of the lakes there are numerous
boats, all for the use of members only.
"We know of no more beautiful trip any-
where than to Pilarcitos, and the disci-
ple of Izak Walton can in a few hours'
fishing, be amply rewarded, both there
and in Lake San Andreas, with scores
of as pretty trout as ever bore the mark
of St. Peter's thumb.

The club is about to become an in-
corporated body, and when it does be-
come such we feel well satisfied that it
will add further to its swelling member-
ship. When winter comes on, it is more
than probable that the members will
secure for themselves handsome club-
rooms in the city, where in social con-
verse they may while away an hour or
two in the long evenings, recounting,
as some of them can, many a " hair
breadth 'scape " from a full-grown griz-
zly ; also, when not fierce grizzlies, but
some less savage or more gentle game
was hunted ; or telling, with a gusto
that belongs only to a sportsman, of
how the deer and quail had "come
down " to the crack of some time-hon-
ored rifle or more modern breach-load-
er ; or how the trout, that had eluded
the snares of a thousand artful "flies,"
had at length yielded to the skill and
rod of the narrator.

An important meeting of the mem-
bers of this club was held at the Sec-
retary's office, 113 Leidesdorff Street,
on Wednesday, 9th instant, for the
purpose of receiving a vote as to wheth-
er or not the club should become an
incorporated body. Mr. William Ward
efficiently acted as Judge of Election.
The polls were open from 9 a. m. until
4 p. m. ; the result of the vote was as
follows : For incorporation, 88 ; against
incorporation, 1. The following gen-
tlemen were elected the first Board of
Directors under the new Constitution :
Richard L. Ogden, W. W. Traylor, Al-

exander Weed, W. P. Willard, and Ar-
thur M. Ebbets.

FLY DRESSING A DESIRABLE ACQUIRE-
MENT.

BY PISCATOE.

The following articles are indispen-
sable in dressing trout and salmon flies :

1. Hooks of all sizes, Limerick or
round-bend.

2. Silks, plain and floss, of all colors
and shades (fine for trout flies).

3. Gut and hair, natural colored and
stained.

4. Gold and silver tinsels, and threads
of various sizes.

5. Fine-pointed scissors.

6. Needle for dividing wings.

7. Tweezers or nippers.

8. Vial of spirit varnish.

9. Shoemakers' wax, and white wax
for trout flies (see recipe).

10. Dubbings of all colors, pig's bris-
tles, mohair, wools and worsteds of all
colors, squirrels' fur and tail, mole's
fur, water rat's fur, hare's lug, comb-
ings of cow hair, monkey's fur, cam-
lets, martin's fur, fox's lug and breast
fur, etc.

The necessity of using artificial flies
undoubtedly arose from the inability to
use such small insects in their natural
state. Fly -making is a delicate and
minute mechanical process, which is
but imperfectly described by the best
written instructions, and which can
only be effectually learned by imitation,
as the making of a coat or a shoe, etc.
Let the angler get some friend who un-
derstands fly -making to give him but
one lesson in the craft, and the follow-
ing instructions, carefully carried out,
will complete his education, and ren-
him an adept in the art.

To dress a fly, which shall imitate

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

211

the colors and form of the insects to be
represented sufficiently well to deceive
the quick-sighted and wary trout, is an
art most delightful in practice, and one
which very materially tends to the oth-
erwise doubtful success of the fly-fish-
er. I would recommend every person
desirous of having sport to endeavor
to attain the knack of dressing them
neatly and speedily. Experience proves
that trout feed eagerly for hours on one
kind of fly, and that they will suddenly
desert their late favorite for another
species, though the former may still be
in great numbers on the water. Such
caprice can not be accounted for, and
should be met by the angler in the
best way he can. Consequently, many
people hold, and rightly think, that
one or other of the natural flies which
are on the water at the time, and on
which the trout are feeding, is neces-
sary to be used in order to fish success-
fully. In order, therefore, to provide
himself with a proper fly, the angler
frequently finds himself compelled to
sit down by the water side and dress
the new favorite, since it can not be ex-
pected that he will be able to keep all
kinds ready dressed in his book. Ne-
cessity, then, may be said to urge every
fly-fisher, who is desirous of having
sport, to acquire the art of fly- dressing.
The pleasure of collecting, arranging,
and endeavoring to match the colors
and form of nature by aid of his mate-
rials, is infinitely greater to the fly-
dresser than can be conceived by an in-
different observer, and offers a constant
employment for those leisure hours,
which in unfavorable weather might
hang heavily on his hands. Indeed, I
can promise that if he gets interested
in the work, he will not only devote
many an hour to it, but will find com-
paratively as much pleasure in build-
ing one of his "killers," as the painter

or sculptor has in giving expression,
upon canvas or on stone, to those fan-
cies that charm the eye and intellect of
every admirer of art.

The materials for this purpose hav-
ing been already described, the next
thing will be to show how they are to
be applied properly to the different
methods of fly-dressing.

Nothing is of more importance in this
branch of the art than correctness in col-
or and size; and next to this is neatness
of formation. The exact color can be
obtained only by wetting the materials
and comparing them in that state with
the color of the natural insect; then
form and size must have your best con-
sideration. If you do not wet your ma-
terials previous to making, always se-
lect colors two or three shades lighter
than the natural fly to be imitated, be-
cause they turn darker in the water.
Feathers for the palest blows or duns
can hardly be too light in color or fine
in texture; consequently, for dressing
such flies those of the dotterel are in-
valuable.

The artist must ever have before his
eye the faultless child of nature, and in
imitating objects so small and wonder-
derfully formed, with their rare beauty
of color, he will have no easy task,
and, at best, will build but a clumsy
representation. Nevertheless, he must
not be disappointed if his early efforts
are not so neat as he could wish; prac-
tice in every art makes perfect ; that is,
so far as human perfection is attainable.
Whether a hackled or a winged fly is to
be manufactured, it is essentially re-
quisite that the whole of the materials
which are to compose the imitation
should be properly adjusted before he
commences operations.

Always use the softest hackles for
the legs, those of a hen are best, though
the small head and neck feathers of the

242

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

quail, snipe, sand-piper, killdeer, etc.,
are softer and answer better generally,
used thinly. The hackles should be
shipped or divested of the soft downy
fibres which grow nearest the root, but
if the feather or hackle be very small,
it should only be turned back on both
sides, ready for twirling or twisting on
the hook. If of larger size, one side of
the feather or hackle should be stripped
off also. Now, the side to be so strip-
ped off may be known by taking the
feather between your left finger and
thumb, with the outside uppermost, or
toward you, then strip off the under
side. Great care should be taken in se-
lecting the softest, brightest, and most
transparent feathers, in order that your
imitation may approach as near as pos-
sible to the appearance of the natural
insect, for stiff or harsh fibered feathers
will not do this ; also, that the feathers
should have a fibre very little longer
than the shank of the hook. Never, by
any means, cut the thin ends of your
feather, else your fly will be useless,
but have it of proper length before ty-
ing on, except it be to represent a case-
winged fly.

The gut, weed, or hair on which you
are going to dress your fly, should next
be carefully examined and tried by mod-
erately pulling it, in proportion to the
size of the fish it is expected to hold.
If gut is much curled and stiff, drawing
it over a piece of India-rubber will
straighten it; be careful not to press
too hard for fear of making it rough,
and pulling fine strands off it. Taking
the precaution to try his gut before us-
ing will save the angler much disap-
pointment, and enable him to discover
defects not discernible to the eye.

Tour dubbings should be mixed to
the exact color of the body of the nat-
ural fly which you are going to repre-
sent, and a small portion of it should

then be wetted and held up to the light,
or you may dress your fly too dark,
since camlets, furs, etc., are several
shades darker when wet than when dry,
and in some instances have a totally
different hue. For the same reason the
floss silk which you use should also be
lighter than the natural fly.

Next, the hook should be tried as to
point and temper, and properly select-
ed as to size. If it is a winged fly you
are going to dress, the feather for the
wing is to be stripped from the quill-
feather of the bird selected, by an even
but sudden pull in the direction of the
quill ; or you may cut off sufficient of
the feather for your purpose with your
scissors, keeping close to the stem of
the feather. The downy part near the
quill is always to be rejected. You
should be particularly careful to have
all the fibres even at the points, and as
little ruffled as possible.

[to be continued.]

GENEKAL KEMARKS ON ANGLING.

BY ANGLEK.

The skillful angler ought to find out
at what times of the year and day fish-
es bite best in the water in which he
intends to sport. In hot months it
matters not where the wind is; but, if
possible, fish against it, and have the
sun opposite to you, casting to the shore
or side of the river from which the
wind blows.

He that angles with fine gut, and
keeps out of sight, will take more fish
than he who angles with strong tackle
or in sight, and especially if wading
and using his landing-net properly.
Fishes have had eyes, ears, and nostrils
given to them; consequently regard
should be paid to all these faculties.
The Creator has made nothing in vain.

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTURIST.

243

"When you rise a fish, or have a bite, be
sure to strike uprightly and quickly,
but not too hard.

When fish bite best, observe the age
of the moon; what kind of night pre-
ceded, as to windiness, darkness, or
lightness; whether starlight or moon-
light, or both; what kind of a day it
was all day long; what temperature of
air and water; what month, and what
day of the month; what hour of the
day; and what flies or baits were taken
best, etc. Keep a book for this pur-
pose to make these notes in.

Do this in order that, upon delibera-
tion, sound judgment, and experience,
and from the true nature and causes of
things and their circumstances, you
may be able to draw conclusions for
your improvement in the art of angling.
"He is fortunate who can find out the
true causes of everything."

All scaly fish swim in schools or
shoals, and often mix company. "When
fish of any sort are hog -backed and
small-headed, they are in the best sea-
son.

Open the first fish you catch when
fly-fishing, observe the color of the flies
he has taken, and fit up your tackle ac-
cordingly.

All fish that take flies sometimes take
them the best on the top, sometimes
best a little under water.

In the day fish chiefly seek their food
by sight; in the night by smelling; so
fish accordingly, though some writers
say they see equally as well in the dark
as the light.
There is generally no use in angling
I for large fish the next day after a dark
| or windy night, unless the evening of
! that day be cloudy or windy; for in
! dark or windy nights the best fish feed
| most% and glut themselves, and conse-
quently will not bite so soon after.
Fish bite badly the same day there

has been a sharp frost, unless in the
evening it be fresh weather again.

Fish rise or bite badly when there is
any rubbish in the river where you fish.

The best time for angling, between
the first of April and the first of June,
is from sun-rising till twelve o'clock,
and from two to six o'clock; between
the first of June and the last of August,
from before sun-rising till ten o'clock,
and from three to eight, or all night,
when the weather is fine (but this is un-
sportsmanlike); and from last, of Au-
gust to the last of October, from sun-
rising till twelve, and from two to six
o'clock.

Fish generally bite well in dark, low-
ering, close, warm, gloomy weather, or
in a gentle whistling wind which curls
the water, or in fine soft misting rain or
dew, or after a sudden smoking shower.

When the night proves light, and the
next day dark and windy, and the wa-
ter is in condition, you are likely to
have good sport, for the best fish stir
no more in light nights than in bright
days.

From Michaelmas till April fish bite
best in the warmer part of the day, in
the deeps at the bottom, the air being
clear and no wind stirring; after April,
the colder the day, fish nearer the bot-
tom; the hotter the day, the nearer the
top.

Most fish, in most places, bite earli-
er in a mild, warm, forward spring,
than in a cold, backward one; and later
in autumn, as the weather is hotter or
colder; and, both spring and autumn,
earlier in a warm day than in a cold
one, and in the sunshine better than in
the shade.

In exceedingly cold weather in the
spring, use ' the smallest blows and
gnats, if the water be clear; and the
clearer and smaller the water, the less
must be your flies.

2U

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

In summer all fish bite keener and
better in swift, rapid, stony, gravelly
rivers, than in such as run gently, and
have slimy, muddy bottoms.

When you fish in thick, large, or
dark waters, use a large -bodied fly;
when in small, clear streams, the small-
est flies ought to be used.

In a thunder storm never seek the
shelter of any tree, for all trees act as
conductors. The most open ground is
the safest.

FISHING ON KEEN RIVER.

From Mr. Kennedy, one of the pio-
neers of the county, who is devoting his
time to the enjoyments he neglected
during a long business life, we get a
few particulars of the trout fishing on
the upper waters of Kern River. The
route from Kernville is up the north
fork of the river to near the Bunnel
mine. The way to that point may be
by wagon, and thence up the river it is
necessary to go on horseback. Pack
animals can be obtained there, and rid-
ing animals if required. The fishing
begins about four miles beyond that
point, and is fine sport for an almost
indefinite distance further up into the
mountains. Good camping ground may
be had at different points along the riv-
er. Mr. Kennedy, who has just return-
ed, says the party caught about two
hundred pounds of brook trout, but the
season was early. He proposes to re-
turn in ten days, and expects to find
more fish and milder weather. The
nights are cold compared with the val-
ley, but probably no more so than the
nights on the top of Mt. Breckinridge,
where there was frost every night until
the first of June. Both the south and
north forks of Kern River abound in
trout. The Wheeler Expedition, which
spent some weeks along those streams

last year, reported the finest fishing
they had enjoyed since the beginning
of their explorations in the Indian Ter-
ritory. They reported a catch by the
company of one thousand pounds in
one day, many weighing four pounds.
It has been said by sportsmen who have
fished in the waters of California and
Oregon that no genuine speckled trout
are to be found. A friend, who loves
the hook and line and fly better than
good health, took his way to the remote
tributaries of the Columbia River, and
sought in vain for the speckled tribe
known in the mountain waters of the
Eastern States. But quite as enthusi-
astic fishermen insist that the only vari-
ation is one of climate, and is peculiar
to other classes of fish found in the sea.
In any event, whether the spots are gen-
uine or not, no one who has ever once
tried them can forget the feast, and the
luxury would tempt the appetite of the
most fastidious of anglers. No one,
who is near enough to see the waters of
the Rio Bravo emerging from the grand
old mountains, should fail to give a few
weeks to the sport they afford.

OUR MARKSMEN AT PHILADELPHIA.

Advices from the East show that in
the rifle shooting matches at Philadel-
phia the California marksmen are giv-
ing an excellent account of themselves.
The team is composed of Philo Jacoby,
A. Strecker, William Ehrenpfort, J. A.
Bauer, A. Rahwyler, A. Koenig, J. A.
Steuli, and Mr. Greiner. Thus far the
honors are as follows : On the target of
honor Streuli took the seventh prize.
On the festival man target Jacoby took
the fifth and Rahwyler the seventh prize.
On the goblet target Ehrenpfort took
the second goblet, Jacoby the fo.urth,
and Koenig the eleventh. Greiner and
Bauer also took goblets. At the bull's

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

245

eye target Strecker gained a prize for
making the largest number during the
day. In the shooting for the festival
premiums Strecker stood second, Rah-
wyler came in third, Jacoby fourth, Eh-
renpfort fifth, Streuli sixth, Bauer sev-
enth, Koenig eighth. Jacoby gained a
gold festival medal for making a second
25 bull's eyes at this target. In the
shooting to determine the status of the
teams in the prize match nine teams of
seven men each entered, and the Cali-
fornian team made the highest score —
1,206 out of a possible 1,750 points.
The Helvetia team came next, sixty-five
points behind. Each man was allowed
ten shots, and each shot counted twen-
ty-five. Jacoby won a gold medal for
making the best score in his team.

FISHING EXTRAORDINARY.

A party of San Francisco merchants,
consisting of W. P. Fuller, W. F. Whit-
tier, Ned Moore, and James Flood, have
lately returned from a four days' fish on
the McCloud River, where they enjoyed
four days of successful sport. They
brought back with them a large chest
of Dolly Varden trout as the result of
their angling. This species of fish re-
sembles nearer the Eastern trout than
any that have ever been brought to this
city, and are found only in the McCloud
and Pit Rivers. In two days they took
one hundred and forty pounds, some of
the trout weighing five pounds. They
are described as the gamest fish ever
found in California waters, half an hour
| being frequently required to subdue one
i of the large ones. The party went by
j rail to Redding, whence they were con-
veyed by stage to Sisson's. Here they
I were furnished a complete outfit by that
i genial old pioneer, including horses,
fishing tackle, and a cook and guide.
The only bait that would induce these

trout to bite was salmon eggs. The
river is literally alive with salmon and
trout, and at this season of the year the
trout are very destructive on salmon
eggs. The fish were brought to this
city on ice, and were pronounced by
epicures to be superior to the Tahoe or
Truckee trout.

Fish Cdltuee. — Dr. Simms is prepar-
ing to enter upon fish culture on his
farm near Santa Rosa. He has abun-
dance of water, which will be conduct-
ed from the hills back of his residence
to ponds, which will be provided for
carp, California and Eastern trout, and
any other rare fish that he may be able
to obtain.

Shad in the Sacramento Rivee. — One
hundred and twenty thousand young
shad were deposited in the above river
at Tehama, by our energetic Fish Com-
missioners, Messrs. Reding and Throck-
morton, of this city. They were gen-
erally in excellent condition, the loss
being less than one thousand.

TREE PLANTING IN CALIFORNIA.

In California everything is done on
a large scale if at all. Grape vines are
planted by the hundreds of thousands,
and Wheat fields extend to thousands
of acres., and the groves of forest trees
are what in the East would be called
extensive forests.

Of late Californians have commenced
the planting of forest trees, and this,
too, upon the same extended scale
which marks all their operations. The
Blue Grum-tree at present being a gen-
eral favorite, we are given an inkling of
the manner of handling this tree, in a
late number of- the Los Angeles Express.

246

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

On the Laguna ranch, seven miles
from Los Angeles, Mr. H. H. Spencer
contracted with Col. R. S. Baker, to
plant 75,000 Blue Gum (or Eucalyptus)
trees in a field of 100 acres. Mr. Spen-
cer secured a large quantity of seed
from Australia, and planted it in boxes
at his place on Hill Street. As soon
as the plants began to shoot he trans-
ferred them to other boxes, placing
them in exact and equal distant rows,
with a view to transplanting them in
the ground as he is now doing. Mr.
Spencer invented a machine by which
the tree is lifted from the box, with all
the earth surrounding it, and injected
as it were into a hole made by a simi-
lar machine in the ground where it is
to grow.

Mr. Spencer's contract with Colonel
Baker requires him to plant 75,000
trees. The ground was first plowed
and then rolled. Five wells were sunk,
one at each corner of the field and a
large one in the centre. These are
supplied with force pumps by which
the water is raised into tanks. A fine
quality of water is struck in each of
these wells at a distance of about three
feet from the surface. The grove is
laid out with drives from the entrance,
facing the county road, to each of the
wells on the boundaries, and these are
connected with avenues converging to
the large central well. An open cir-
cle, about 120 feet in diameter, is left
at this well, where the Colonel intends
to lay out arbors and grounds for pic-
nics, etc.

The trees are planted in rows run-
ning parallel with the county road.
They are laid out in quincuncial rows,
each quincunx of trees occupying a
square of 12 feet. Thus a line 252 feet
in length, marked out every 12 feet, is
stretched and fastened to pegs. Men
with spades then dip out a gutter of

earth and sink a cross cut two inches
from the line. This marks the exact
spot where the tree is to be planted.
Men then come along armed with the
planting machines. They first take out
a plug of earth about six inches deep
and an inch and a half in width, with
one of the machines which is without a
tree; then they insert a planter con-
taining a tree into the hole, push down
the cylinder with the thumb, and, pres-
to! the tree is adjusted in its place.
Then follows a man with a heavy cast
iron pounder, opened in the center and
rounded at the end to a convex shape.
The tree passes through the central
aperture, the pounder is pressed to the
earth, and when withdrawn the dirt is
closely packed around the plant and
left in the shape of a bowl. Then a
man comes along with water and fills
the bowl. Some time afterward dry
sand is spread over the moisture sur-
rounding the plant, and it is thus pre-
served from insects, which will not re-
main in dry sand, while the process of
evaporation is retarded by this surface
layer. We timed the men while they
were planting a line of trees, and found
that it took them just one minute and
a half. At this rate they can plant
6,300 trees a day — that is, a gang of
men consisting of seventeen, engaged
immediately and incidentally in the
work. The average is about 6,000 trees
per day for such a force, so that from
the time of getting fairly at work it
would take about 13 days to plant the
75,000 trees contracted for. There are
portions of the field where the process
of planting is not so easy as that we
have described. At some points the
earth is baked almost hard to a consid-
erable depth. Heie auger holes are
bored by men with the Champion post-
hole auger, to a depth of about two feet,
where moist soil is met. This hole is

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

247

filled with water from carts that are
kept constantly moving between the
tanks and the holes. The water soon
' softens the walls of the holes and dis-
appears. They are then filled with a
fine loam, and in this the trees are
planted. This portion of the work is
slower than any other, but a large gang
of men are employed with augers, and
rapid progress is being made. Trees
which had been planted but one week
were getting along vigorously.

TO BAISE SEEDLING STRAWBERRIES.

The process is so simple that we will
describe it here for the benefit of such
of our readers as take an intelligent in-
terest in horticulture, and may have it
in their power to attempt something in
this direction. There are two rival spe-
cies of the Strawberry, Fragaria Virgin-
iana and Fragaria grandijiora. The
first is our North American wild spe-
cies, from which has been produced
the American improved varieties. The
second is the South American species,
from which European horticulturists
get their improvements. The North
American plant produces fruit of great
productiveness, and of a peculiar wild
flavor, which makes it a favorite. It
thrives best with us, also. The Euro-
pean varieties, from Fragaria grandi-
jiora, are of great size, moderately
sweet, but they have comparatively lit-
tle aromatic flavor.

A horticulturist who desires to get a
new and improved seedling berry, de-
termines what qualities he desires to
combine. He takes, for instance, a
plant of Wilson's Albany, which is very
prolific, with a berry of fair quality,
but rather acid. He plants beside it a
sweet variety of great size, but not very
productive. His object is to let one
fertilize the other, and thus combine

the qualities of both. To secure his
end he removes the stamens from the
flowers of one as soon as they are open,
and fertilizes these flowers with the pol-
len of the other. "When the berries
which are the result of this union are
ripe, having prepared well a patch of
ground, half shaded, he mashes the
berries in his hand and mixes them
thoroughly with dry sand sufficient to
take up the moisture. The mixture he
sows, and sifts over it an eighth of an
inch of fine mold.

If the soil is kept moist the seeds will
sprout in from four to six weeks. The
young plants are covered lightly with
straw the first winter, and next spring
are transplanted into rows two feet
apart and eighteen inches in the rows.
All runners are stopped this first sea-
son, and the beds kept very clean.
The next spring the plants bear ; but
their productiveness and quality can
not be definitely determined till the
year after. Then an inspection of the
plants and fruit will enable the grower
to determine on the one or two varie-
ties out of perhaps five hundred or one
thousand plants he has. Mr. Fuller
states that, in his first venture, of about
four hundred seedlings, he found not
one worth keeping. But he has kept
up a constant succession ; has fruited
and condemned from fifty to one hun-
dred varieties every year for several
years past; and has raised altogether
about one thousand varieties from seed.
Out of this number he has secured three
new varieties which are superior.

Seedlings have a tendency to run
back, and a plant which bears promis-
ing fruit in its first year may turn out
small berries or a small crop the next.
When they have been fruited three
years and remain good they may be de-
pended upon.

Though this seems a tedious under-

248

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

taking, it must not be forgotten that
seedlings are all the time producing
fruit of some kind, sufficient for use,
and quite as good as the average berry
in the market ; and the zealous horti-
culturist has the hope before him that
in the end he may originate some new
variety which shall be superior to all its
competitors.

HOW TO DRY PLANTS.

The following instructions for drying
plants are from the pen of Rev. G. Hen-
slow, one of the best practical botanists
in England, and their precision and
minuteness will make them welcome to
such readers of the Horticulturist as
desire to try their hands at this inter-
esting and attractive mode of preserv-
ing plants :

" The materials required are com-
mon cartridge paper, thick white blot-
ting paper, cotton wadding and mill-
board, all cut to the same size. The
plants should be gathered in dry weath-
er, and soon after the flowers open,
when their colors are brightest. Suc-
culent plants (such as Daffodil, Orchis,
or Stone -crop) should be put into
scalding water, with the exception of
the flowers, for a minute or two, then
laid on a cloth to dry.

"Arrange the papers and specimens
in the following order: Mill -board,
cartridge-paper, wadding (split open,
and the glazed side placed next to the
cartridge paper), blotting paper; the
specimens, having small pieces of wad-
ding placed within and around the flow-
ers to draw off all the moisture as quick-
ly as possible, blotting paper, wadding
as before, cartridge paper, mill-board.
When the specimens, etc., are thus ar-
ranged, heavy weights should be put
on them ; about thirty pounds the first
day, sixty pounds afterward. Remove

them from under pressure in a day or
two ; carefully take away all the pa-
pers, etc., except the blotting papers
between which the specimens are plac-
ed ; put these in a warm air to dry,
while the removed papers, etc., are
dried in the sun, or by the fire. When
dry (but not warm) place them in the
same order as before ; put all under
the heavier pressure for a few days
when (if not succulent) they will be dry.

" Flowers of different colors require
different treatment to preserve their
colors. Blue flowers must be dried
with heat, either under a case of hot
sand before a fire, with a hot iron, or
in a cool oven. Red flowers are injur-
ed by heat ; they require to be washed
with muriatic acid, diluted in spirits of
wine, to fix the color. One part of
acid to three parts of spirit is about the
proportion. The best brush with which
to apply this mixture is the head of a
thistle when in seed, as the acid de-
stroys a hair-pencil, and injures what-
ever it touches (except glass or china);
therefore it should be used with great
care. Many yellow flowers turn green
even after they have remained yellow
some weeks ; they must therefore be
dried repeatedly before the fire, and
again after they are mounted on paper,
and kept in a dry place. Purple flow-
ers require as much care, or they soon
turn a light brown. White flowers
turn brown if handled or brushed be-
fore they are dried.

" Daisies, Pansies, and some other
flowers must not be removed from un-
der pressure for two or three days, or
the petals will curl up. As all dried
plants (Ferns excepted) are liable to be
infested by minute insects, a small
quantity of the poison, corrosive subli-
mate, dissolved in spirits of wine, should
be added to the paste, which it will
also preserve from mould. The best

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

249

cement for fixing the specimens on to .
the paper or card-board is gum-paste.
It is composed of thick gum-water and
flour, mixed in warm water, by adding
the two together warm, and of a con-
sistency that will run off the hair pen-
cil."

LOS ANGELES ORANGES.

J. W. Webb, in the Lompoc Herald,
thus describes some of the varieties of
Oranges raised in the orchard of Mr.
Thos. A. G-arey, at Los Angeles. The
whole list embraces about fifty kinds :

• ' The Navel, from Australia, bloom-
ed the first year ; some are setting with
promise of ripening now. A beautiful
ornamental kind of Oranges and Lem-
ons has variegated leaves, resembling
in color of leaf the Japanese Honey-
suckle, or the variegated Myrtle, a com-
mon creeper in our own gardens. The
Mediterranean, Garey's favorite, is seed-
less, without pith in the centre, and
has very compact flesh. The Seville
Orange does well ; it is valued for its
bright color and peculiarly bitter rind,
which, with the pulp, makes the best
of marmalade, or orange preserve.
Well do I remember the toothsome ar-
ticle my mother used to make for our
family in England, where we could get
the Oranges speedily from Seville it-
self, in Spain. The St. Michael are
generally small, but some two-year old
trees had a dozen last season, and are
now, at three years old, full. This
was a great favorite in England. I
well remember having heard the street
peddlers call out ' Here's your sweet
St. .Nicholas Oranges/ and they know
well what name takes best with their
customers. The Duroi, at two years
old, bore twenty-two perfect Oranges.
The Maltese Blood Orange, only two
years old, was as full of fruit as ordi-

Vol. VI.— 17.

nary Plum-trees. Common Orange-
trees were pointed out, budded on
Lemon stocks, that bore 250 good fla-
vored and sized Oranges last year. Mr.
Garey says trees bear soonest when bud-
ded, Lemon on Orange, or vice versa.
Mr. Strong, nurseryman at Westmin-
ster, subsequently told me that he has
refrained from trying the Orange on
Lemon stock, fearing they would be
small and short-lived trees, because the
Lemon is really but a bush. He is
waiting to see the matter well tested.
A number of Mexican Lime-trees, said
to be the best kind, were very full of
green fruit. They bear the year round,
and at from five to eight years old bear
from 500 to 600 each. The Bouquet
Orange is very fragrant and has large
blossoms. The finest grows in clusters,
only ornamental. There is a white-
fleshed Orange, containing no pungent
oil in the skin. The Japanese Lemons
are good and early. If I remember,
Colonel MacLeod has some trees of this
kind in his garden. The Pumalo is an
ornamental tree, with fine glossy leaves
and fruit twenty -one to twenty-seven
inches in circumference, pear-shaped,
but coarse for eating. The Mandarin
is small, thin-skinned, and bears early.
As a general rule, it is said where the
Pomegranate will do well the Orange
will."

THE PANAMA HAT PLANT {UARLUDOV-
ICA PALMATA).

The London Garden presents its read-
ers with an engraving and an instruct-
ive account of this both useful and or-
namental plant.

During the last twenty years it has
acquired a vast importance as the source
of the fibre used in the manufacture of
the true Panama hat.

The Carludovica was introduced into

250

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Europe about the year 1808. It is a na-
tive of Bolivia, Peru, New Granada,
and Ecuador, and prefers damp shelter-
ed positions in the deeply-wooded val-
leys of that part of South America. It
is in general stemless, the leaf-stalks
and flowers shooting directly from the
roots. The leaves, which are mounted
on a solid triangular petiole, are pal-
mate and folded like a fan. As they in-
crease in size, they split into three or
four divisions. The leaf -disc varies in
diameter from sixteen to thirty inches
and even more, the leaf-stalk being oft-
en six or seven feet in length. When
carefully cultivated, the leaf is of a bril-
liant green. The flowers, although
they do not constitute the chief beauty
of the plant, are nevertheless singular
in their way. They are monoecious, on
the same spadix, the female flower be-
ing surrounded by four males. On
reaching maturity, it breaks up, expos-
ing the inside of the fruit as well as the
axis round which it is placed. These
parts are of a brilliant scarlet, which is
rendered all the more intense by the
strong contrast of the bright green sur-
face of the spadix and of the leaves by
which it is surrounded.

In Weddel's " Travels in North Bo-
livia," we find an account of the manu-
facture of the Panama hats from the
leaves. The Bolivians give the Carlu-
dovica the name of Jipagapa, a town in
the republic of Ecuador, which is the
principal seat of the hat manufacture —
"Panama," like "Mocha" in the case
of Coffee and '■ Brussels" in that of
carpets, being a misnomer.

Before the leaf has begun to open —
when, in fact, it resembles a closed fan
— it is cut off close to the petiole, the
base of which forms the centre of the
crown of the hat. It is then divided
longitudinally into strips with the
thumb nail, the thick part forming the

mid-rib being rejected. The number
of shreds into which it is divided of
course depends on the fineness of the
hat into which they are to be manufac-
tured.

The split leaf is next dipped into
boiling water, then into tepid water
acidulated with Lemon-juice, and last-
ly, it is allowed to soak in cold water
for some time, and afterward dried in
the sun. Each hat is, or ought to be,
made of a single leaf. The damping
and drying operations cause the shreds
to assume a curdled or cylindrical form,
which much increases their strength
without injuring their pliancy. Before
plaiting, the coarser qualities are damp-
ed with water, but the finest sorts are
left out in the morning dew and work-
ed on before sunrise. A hat of the
finest quality, made out of a single leaf,
will take several months to make it com-
plete, and the plaiting will be so fine
as hardly to be perceptible at a short
distance.

The Carludovica Palmata is by no
means difficult to cultivate, and it is one
of the most hardy species of the genus.
It grows well in the damp heat of an
Orchid -house where the temperature
does not fall below 60°.

Like other Screw Pines — an order to
which it belongs — a copious supply of
moisture at the root is required all the
year around, but more particularly when
it is making its growth.

CHERRY OR VERSAILLES CURRANT.

There has been considerable discus-
sion among our pomologists in regard
to the identity of the two Currants
known by the above names. Our nur-
serymen with few exceptions have of-
fered both Cherry and Versailles in
their catalogues as distinct sorts, charg-
ing in some instances fifty per cent.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

251

more for the latter than the former, and
while they doubtless believed that there
was a difference between the two, we
have for the past ten years or more
considered them identical. As an evi-
dence of this we quote from the " Small
Fruit Culturist," page 205, 1867: "Very
large ; bunch, long and slightly taper-
ing ; dark red, acid ; and by many it is
considered to be a better flavored vari-
ety than the Cherry, but by others very
similar, if not identical. The principal
points of distinction claimed are that
the Versailles is not so acid as the Cher-
ry, and that the bunches are more ta-
pering. But like variations may be
observed in other well-known varieties,
and upon plants growing in close prox-
imity. At one time I thought that
there was a difference in the growth
and foliage of the two kinds, but more
experience has not confirmed me in this
opinion. "

The above opinion was not reached
through hasty investigations, but after
procuring plants from various Euro-
pean nurseries, as well as all the best
known and most reliable in this coun-
try.

E. P. Roe, in his late work entitled
" A Manual on the Culture of Small
Fruits," after referring to what we have
written, as well as others, on the sub-
ject, says, " But those purchasing the
Versailles with the expectation of get-
ting something very different and much
better than the Cherry, should be un-
deceived."

We would naturally suppose that the
English pomologist and nurseryman
would be as likely as ourselves to dis-
cover a difference between the two sorts
named, if any really existed, but, in an
exhaustive article on Currants, by A.
F. Barron, in the London Garden for
April of the present year, we find this
head-line to the paragraph describing

the Cherry-currant, ' ' Cherry {Synonym,
La Versailles)."

Now we leave it to our horticulturists
in general, if it is not about time to
drop the name Versailles from the list
of Currants, or merely insert it as a
synonym of the Cherry.

HUNGAEIAN WINES.

What is Tokay, and how is it made?
Is it true that only kings and queens
are allowed to drink this wine? Tokay
is the most celebrated of all the Hun-
garian wines, and is made from Grapes
which grow on the slopes of the hills
near the town of Tokay, in Northern
Hungary. The finest of this wine is
said to be produced from a small vine-
yard, not occupying more than two
acres; the whole produce of which finds
its way to the imperial cellar, and is in-
deed an imperial manufacture. There
are five qualities of this Hungarian
wine: Essence, Ausbruch, Maslas, Sa-
movodny, and ordinary. The first of
these, the " Essence," is the most cost^
ly wine in the world, selling at from
one to three pounds sterling per small
Tokay bottle, and is very rarely for sale
at all, and is considered peculiarly the
wine of crowned heads and princes.
The others are generally found for sale
in small quantities in any market where
costly wines are to be had, and com-
mand good prices. Hungarian wines
are of three kinds : Natural wine, called
Samovodny; Maslas, of dry and plump
berries used in certain proportions; and
ordinary wine, made only from plump
Grapes.

It is a peculiarity of the Hungarian
wines that the Grapes ripening earliest
often burst and discharge a portion of
their juice, after which they dry up and
are converted into lumps of sugar, call-
ed aszu (German Trockenbeeren), or

,252

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

dry berries. These very rarely com-
prise an entire bunch, but are inter-
spersed with fully ripe and plump
Grapes. It is customary at the vintage
to separate the dry berries from the
others ; but when the clusters are put
into the press without undergoing this
process, the product is known as natur-
al wine. The choice varieties are made
from the ordinary wine, with the addi-
tion of dry berries. This is Maslas. It
is of four qualities, according to the
quantity of dry berries added to each
cask of wine. When re-enforced beyond
these proportions it is called aszubar or
Ausbruch, the choicest kind of which is
that running spontaneously from the
musk -infused dry berries, known as
"Essence." These fortified wines are
as a rule very alcoholic and sweet, and
are the chief wines of commerce.

ORNAMENTAL BASKET.

Procure cigar-] ighters, or lamp-light-
ers some call them, at any of the gro-
ceries or drug-stores ; one bundle is
plenty, and the price is only a nickel.
They are white, thin, and smooth, and
only the best ones should be selected.
After you have them arranged, lay three
of the splits across your finger, about
equal distances apart ; now take anoth-
er one, and weave it in the opposite
way, so that two of the splits will lay
under it and one over ; another one the
same way, only that the two should be
over and the one under. Continue in
the same way till you have a square,
observing that you must have an equal
number of splits both ways ; I general-
ly have six splits, but there may be
more or less, and, in this case, the spa-
ces between the splits will be larger or
smaller. Make five of these squares,
and when you have them all woven,
take some bright- colored zephyr or yarn

and work around the last row of the
squares the simple cross-stitch, just
merely winding it in and out, and pok-
ing through. When you have all the
five worked, take the scissors and notch
the edges of each split, so as to give it
a kind of finishing touch. Now you
have the basket ready to put together,
which is the troublesome job, for me,
anyway. Take one of the pieces for
the bottom, and fasten another piece to
the corner, having the two corners to-
gether; now another piece to another
corner of the bottom (remember to tie
it securely), and then the two corners
of the pieces of that are tied on togeth-
er ; put one of the four pieces at each
corner of the bottom, and then tie their
corners together, and you have the bas-
ket ready for balls or tassels. The side
pieces will all stand diamond-shaped,
with one corner at the top, one at the
bottom, and one where they are tied to-
gether. Now make either tassels or
balls of the zephyr of the same kind of
which the pieces are worked, and tie
on the corners where they are joined ;
then knit a string, by which to hang it
up, and your basket is completed. I
have one worked with scarlet, and tas-
sels of the same, filled with artificial
flowers. They are pretty to hang in
the window, or any convenient place,
and any lady who understands fancy
work can easily make one of these little
baskets. — Florence Miller.

FOSSIL PLANTS IN GREENLAND.

From the fossil remains of numerous
land-plants and a few insects found in
the Miocene beds of Disco Island, it
appears that in comparatively recent
times a luxuriant vegetation, somewhat
similar in character to that of Califor-
nia or the Southern United States,
flourished in these Arctic wastes. Lux-

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUEIST.

253

uriant evergreen Oaks, Magnolias, and
Sequoias grew where now is found
only the dwarf Willow, creeping along
the ground with a stem not over half
an inch in diameter. Among the fossil
trees of Greenland, Prof. Heer has dis-
covered three distinct species of the Se-
quoia,, nine of Oak, four of which were
evergreen, like Italian Oak, two Beech-
es, a Chestnut, two Planes, and a Wal-
nut. " Besides these," writes Prof.
Heer, " American species, such as the
Magnolias, Sassafrasses, and Liquid-
ambers, were represented there ; and
the characters of the Ebony-tree are to
be distinguished in two of the species.
The Hazel, the Sumach, the Buckthorn
and the Holly, the Guelder-rose, and
the White, probably formed the thick-
ets at the borders of woods ; while the
vine, the Ivy, and the Sarsaparilla
climbed over the trees of the virgin
forest, and adorned them with gar-
lands. In the shadow of the wood
grew a profusion of Ferns, which cov-
ered the soil with their elegant fronds.
The insects which gave animation to
these solitudes are not all lost. The
impressions of these which have reach-
ed us show that Ghrysomelos and Gas-
tilidce enjoyed themselves in the sun,
and the large Trogsitoe pierced the bark
of the trees, while the charming Cica-
delloe leaped about among the herbage."
« In all, about one hundred and sixty-
seven species of Miocene plants have
been discovered in Greenland. — Popu-
lar Science Monthly.

ARUM DRACUNCULUS.

The Arum Dracunculus has never re-
ceived an extravagant amount of praise,
either for its beauty, which is of the
monstrous sort, or for the odor which it
possesses in an eminent degree, and
which it is pleasanter to describe by tell-

ing what it is not than by what it is.
Many naturalists suppose that it is the
fragrance of flowers as well as their
bright colors that attracts the insects
necessary to their fertilization. In the
instance of the Arum, the velvety-pur-
ple of its spathe may alone suffice, else
it must be supposed that odors that are
offensive to the human olfactory are
agreeable to that of the insect — a sup-
position that is not, however, improb-
able, when we consider how variously
the same odor will effect different per-
sons.

We find in the experimental grounds,
which are now devoted to the Rural
New Yorker, where the Arum is now
blooming, that the goblet-shaped bot-
tom of the spathe which surrounds the
stamens and pistils of the spadix, is
partly filled with various insects which
feed upon the pollen. The nut-like
pistils are crowded upon the base ex-
tending an inch or more upward where
they meet the stamens. It is very easy
for the insects to creep up the rough
surface of the pistils and feed upon the
pollen ; but above the stamens, the
spadix is naked and slippery, so that
they find it a troublesome if not an im-
possible matter to escape in this way.
Equally difficult is it for them to creep
up the inflexed sides of the swollen
part of the spathe. After an inch or so
of progress, they lose footing and fall
to the bottom, where they exist in num-
bers sufficient to crush or smother one
another. As the spathe of this Arum
consists of a leaf the edges of which
are not joined together, the swollen bot-
tom allows water to escape, otherwise
in this plant as in the pitcher and oth-
er so-called carnivorous plants, the in-
sects would be drowned and an oppor-
tunity afforded to our infinitesimal bo-
tanists to investigate whether in this, as
in those, the putrid animal bodies were

# 254

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

not "dissolved by this subtle fluid and
converted into plant-food. "

Arum Draeunculus averages two feet
in height, and consists of six or eight
curly leaves pedately or hastately part-
ed on long petioles, which are spotted
like a leopard-skin with dull brown.
The spatheis one foot or more in length,
of a vivid, glossy, reddish purple in-
side, deeply veined and green outside,
except the edges, which are also purple.

The Caladium, Calla Lily, and many
of our finest hot house-plants, are sis-
ters of the Arum. One of the showiest
is the brilliant Anthurium, elegant spec-
imens of which may now be seen in
Horticultural Hall of the Centennial
Exhibition.

COMPOSTING MANURES.

This work is always in order, and its
importance can not be too often dwelt
upon. We have frequently given ad-
vice upon the subject, but will now add
the following suggestions found in the
transactions of the Essex Co. (Mass)
Society, from the pen of J. J. H. Greg-
ory, the well known seedsman of Mar-
blehead. He says:

"For more than twenty years the
farmers of this town have been market-
gardeners, and while the average quan-
tity of manure used by them in their
gardening operations is from eight to
ten cords per acre, the average quantity
of barn-yard manure is not above two
cords per acre ; the great dependence is
upon composts, on which they have
kept up the fertility of their land, and
in fact increased their crops. In the
course of his report Mr. Gregory tells
how he made a compost for a three-acre
field, consisting of twenty-five barrels
of hen manure, twelve barrels of crush-
ed bone, and three barrels of Kayni
(potash salts). These three articles

make up about all that vegetation needs,
viz: nitrogen, phosphate of lime, and
potash — and the cost was $71 30, in-
cluding $5 for expense of composting,
and $5 for carting the materials. Ma-
nured with stable manure in sufficient
quantity, the cost of manuring the three
acres would have been $180. In • mak-
ing the compost, the materials were laid
up in a square heap, in alternate layers,
to the height of three feet. It remain-
ed three days until well heated by fer-
mentation, when it was forked over,
again left for one day, and then forked
over, when it was very thoroughly mix-
ed and ready for use. A similar com-
post may be made by any of our horti-
culturists, and if the chemical formulas
aid them in making such composts, or
by being used give greater value to the
same, their promulgation will be a mat-
ter of public good."

SHADE TREES IN PASTURES.

If any man can adduce a good reason
why there should be no shade-trees in
pastures, I wish to hear from him at
once, as we have read the agricultural
papers for years, and have not seen a
single argument worth noticing against
shade-trees in pastures. "What a brute
a farmer must be who would be willing
to see his cows, horses, and sheep
sweating under a summer sun, with the
thermometer in the shade up to 90 or
100 degrees ; he should be stripped of
his clothes and exposed to the same
heat till he had learned to appreciate
the value of shade to animals in sum-
mer. The only reason advanced against
shade-trees in pastures is, that cows are
inclined to spend too much of their
time under them, and consequently
give less milk than they would if no
shade existed. This is all talk. Cows
that rest a portion of the time under

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

255

trees feed more nights than those do
that have no shade in their pastures.
The farmer who advocates cutting the
shade-trees of pastures is a heathen in
his feelings, and not worthy of owning
live stock, because to furnish such stock
with no shade is downright cruelty to
animals, and ought to he an indictable
offense. The more comfortable and
quiet we keep our cows, the more milk
they will produce, and we contend that
cows that have a shady grove to lie in,
or large shade-trees in different parts
of the pastures to stand or lie under,
will produce as much milk as cows do
without shade, and the animals are far
more comfortable, and their owners feel
a pleasure in seeing them enjoy them-
selves in a cool shade during the heat
of the summer days. — Cor. New En-
gland Farmer.

©tutorial gMtfolw.

OUE FEONTISPIECE.

In the place of a colored flower rep-
resentation, which we expected to re-
ceive in time for this issue, we present
a true picture of one of the centennial
Catholic missions of this State, now in
an unprosperous and decaying condi-
tion. It is pleasant to reproduce these
missionary landmarks. A lady corre-
spondent writes as follows :

" In the town of San Luis Obispo,
built in the midst of what was once the
Mission garden, the houses have crowd-
ed close up to the Mission church, thus
improving the looks neither of the one
nor the other. The old church has al-
ways reminded me of some of those de-
cayed gentle-folks whom we see some-
times snubbed and crowded into the
corner by a set of shabby-genteel, up-
start relations. The town itself is a
stirring, bustling place, full of Life, and
a great deal too small for the amount of

business transacted in it. Any one
coming from San Francisco would hard-
ly believe, at first sight, how well the
merchants have succeeded in carrying
a part of the metropolis down into their
establishments here. Even Father Zas-
trow, the Spanish priest in charge of
the old Mission, seems to have taken
the contagion from these restless Amer-
icans, and displays an amount of ener-
gy seldom met with in one of his call-
ing and country. Showing us through
the Mission church and the grounds at-
tached, we saw everywhere the fruits
and effects of the good Father's indus-
try. The Mission, which had lain idle
and neglected for forty years when the
Padre was sent to take charge of it, is
looking fresh and cheerful, as far as
the Padre's hand can reach. The walls
of the church are all the way from
three to nine feet in thickness, and con-
structed of adobe and rock, mixed.
Though unused and exposed for such a
length of time, nothing was ever taken
from the church ; every thing, down to
the little old-fashioned silver censer
and incense-jar, is still there, just as it
was nearly a hundred years ago. The
ceiling and walls of the church have
been newly painted — sky-blue and pink
— at good Father Zastrow's suggestion.
In the vestry-room were the very basin
and urn in which the padres, so many
years before, washed the sacred cloths
pertaining to the communion service ;
and richer and gaudier than anything I
had ever seen, were the vestments and
robes which had lain in this same old
chest of drawers for over seventy-five
years. How fresh the scarlet of this
velvet, and how bright the gold fringe
and border on that black satin! Silk,
brocaded with gold and silver flowers,
and satin with raised arabesques run-
ning through it ; surely, there is noth-
ing manufactured in our day like these

256

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

vestments sent from wealthy, wicked
old Spain, to flaunt in the faces of the
gaping, worshiping Indians.

' ' To the remark of friend Murray :
That many a ship -load of grain and
beef -hides must have gone back to
Spain for these robes, Father Zastrow
replied, in his native tongue, ' When
you want fine bread, you must send the
best of flour.' And they could afford
to ' send the best of flour,' these old
padres, when the Mission was in its
prime. Are we not told of one Father
who returned to his native land with
$100,000 in gold, from this very church?
The Mission owned some eighty thou-
sand head of cattle then, and over sev-
enty thousand sheep ; not to mention a
small matter of five or six thousand
horses, and about an equal number of
mules.

" When we bade the Padre adieu, he
advised us to visit the part of the Mis-
sion garden that lies a little below the
main street of the town. It is leased
to some Italians now, but was at one
time in charge of Americans, who, by
the way, realized the handsome sum of
$120 out of each Olive-tree."

CALIFORNIA WILD FLOWERS.

In conversation with a warm friend,
an old Californian, who has enjoyed
many summer vacations in the Sierra
lake and mountain region of California,
he, in his enthusiastic reference to the
delightfully invigorating atmosphere of
that part of our State — " the finest cli-
mate in the world, " a phrase to which
our own California-made Bret Harte so
ironically alludes in his prose writings,
notably in his recent and only novel
entitled " Gabriel Conroy," just some-
what abruptly closed in Scribner's
Monthly, but which is so truly applica-
ble to the entire State — remarked that

he never saw such a spontaneous growth
of wild flowers anywhere. The sides
of the snow-covered mountains present-
ed a vast variegated carpet of rich and
dazzling colors, the blending of which
produced a most harmonious effect.
He said that within his arm's reach,
while basking in the sunshine and en-
joying the feast of colors, he gathered
twenty-six different varieties of flowers
in a brief space of time. Another
pleasing sight was the innumerable
butterflies that hovered over this flow-
er-panorama, all their colors harmoni-
ously blending with the gaily arrayed
mountain side — having every appear-
ance as if the many-colored petals were
detaching themselves in myriad num-
bers and assuming the brief life of the
chrysalis-born insect.

FLOEAL DECORATIONS.

A few days since we had the pleasure
of seeing several splendid and lovely
floral testimonials formed by the skill-
ful and tasty hands of August Duhem,
H. C. Leopold, and Chas. Leopold, of
Miller & Siever's Floral Depot, on Post
Street. They were testimonials to
M'lle Anna de Belocca, as a worthy
compliment to her popularity, socially,
among the friends she had made in this
city, and as a recognition of her distin-
guished merit as an artist. It was the
most beautiful floral offering we have
ever seen here, and probably the finest
one that has ever graced the stage of
San Francisco. One of them, a large
Jardiniere, was about five feet high and
nearly four feet in breadth, and was
embellished from top to bottom with
wreaths, stars, a harp, and other de-
signs of flowers wrought in the choicest
and richest kinds which the season
could afford, while the main portion
consisted of a bed of deliciously scent-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

257

ed fresh white flowers, such as Tube-
roses, Lilies, etc., with the name " Be-
locca " in Rose Carnation Pinks ; sepa-
rate specimens of a harp, a centennial
bell, a cottage, and several brilliant
bouquets, etc., completed this choice
and most elaborately and artistically
worked collection, showing, if such a
proof were necessary, that August Du-
hem, and H. C. and Charles Leopold
are among the finest floral workers and
decorators in this city. A good photo-
graph of these choice presents has been
taken by those distinguished photogra-
phers, Messrs. Houseworth & Co., and
may be seen in the window of Messrs.
Miller & Siever's store.

FEUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

Those who are most experienced in
the cultivation of fruit, and who are
first-rate orchardists, are in the excel-
lent habit of thinning out where the
trees overbear, which is very apt to be
the case on this coast. It is a judicious
system, on an average, to take off one-
half of the fruit from the trees when
about the size of Hickory nuts, and
sometimes even two -thirds to three-
fourths is picked off, when the tree is
very full or liable to bend down with
the load of fruit at maturity. There
are two good reasons for this: one, to
prevent the limbs from breaking under
the load of ripening fruit; and another,
to insure the large size of the fruit that
is left upon the tree, together with su-
perior eating qualities. When fruit is
large and handsome its value for mar-
ket is much enhanced. Pruning trees
heavily, and removing the fruit-bearing
twigs will prevent over - bearing, but
then the tree is injured by it. It is
best to encourage as many fruit spurs

to grow as possible, and make up the
mind without flinching to thin out the
fruit. It will always pay well to do
so when the trees are too crowded with
their produce. It no doubt with many
has the appearance of wasting the fruit
too much, but it is often expedient, and
the superior weight and excellence,
when grown, of what is left, will sure-
ly satisfy any reasonable person that it
is the best of policy, and will pay well
for the trouble, although it is unfortu-
nately so seldom practiced by the gen-
eral cultivator.

Now that the Grape season is ap-
proaching, we will speak of their healthy
qualities in the natural state. There is
no doubt of their wholesome character
in some ailments, especially in dyspep-
sia, when eaten by persons who are
thirsty through proper and active exer-
cise. There is a great, deal of nutri-
ment in them, and they are an excel-
lent diuretic. Dr. Hartsen, in Central-
blattfur die Med. Wissenschaften, recom-
mends Grapes as a valuable diet in
fever. The Grape contains a consider-
able amount of hydro - carbonaceous
matter, together with a certain quanti-
ty of potassium salts, a combination
which does not irritate, but on the con-
trary soothes the stomach, and conse-
quently is used with advantage, even in
dyspepsia. "While considering the car-
bo-hydrates contained in the Grape, we
must not neglect the organic acids, par-
ticularly tartaric acid. Dr. Hartsen
thinks the nourishing influence of these
acids too much neglected. It is indeed
known that they are changed to car-
bonic acid in the blood, and are excret-
ed as carbonates in the urine. Possi-
bly careful research might show that,
under some circumstances, the organic
acids are changed to fats. Dr. Hartsen
believes that the organic acids should
be ranked with the carbo-hydrates as

258

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUBIST.

food. When fresh Grapes are not to
be had, raisins or diluted wine might
be used.

With regard to the "Apple Cure:"
A correspondent of "Laws of Life"
speaks highly of the use of Apples as a
cure for dyspepsia, and while we in
part agree with him that fruit is healthy
and for some kinds of dyspepsia may
be beneficial, in others it is about the
worst food a person can take. Each
and every individual must decide for
himself in such cases, but we give the
opinion- of the correspondent for what
it is worth:

"Persons suffering from dyspepsia,
constipation, congestion of brain, and
other ills which attend on general de-
bility, are accustomed to apply to the
doctors for bitters for the stomach, ca-
thartics for the bowels, and iron for the
blood. But it is generally found that
the relief to the stomach and bowels in-
duced by medicine is temporary, and
when reaction takes place after stimu-
lation, the vital organs are weaker, and
the patient is worse off in every respect
than when he commenced the use of
medicine.

" We have a remedy to suggest, which,
although it may not be of universal ap-
plication, has, in my own case and that
of many others who at my suggestion
have tried it, brought relief after all
drug remedies had failed. Apples are
a natural stimulant to the stomach,
bowels, and kidneys, and, unlike medi-
cine, keep up, when habitually eaten, a
continued healthy action of these or-
gans. Apples are not only stimulative,
they are also nutritive."

So much for Apples, now for the
smaller fruits, such as the Baspberry,
for instance. And here is the effect of
that fruit as a medicine, in an extract
from an exchange :

" Many years ago a chronic cough in-

duced us to look into medical books for
the best expectorants. Dr. Good stat-
ed that ripe Baspberries were one of
the best remedies of the kind. As it
was then approaching mid-summer, we
obtained a daily supply for some weeks.
We found them quite an agreeable
medicine to take. They cured the
cough. Again, at a late meeting of the
Western New York Farmers' Club,
Wm. H. Pillow, of Bochester, said he
had been in the small fruit business for
several years, and he believed that
Strawberries had saved his life. One
spring, after a severe sickness, he had
no appetite till Strawberries came, when
he almost lived on them, and improved
rapidly. Land -owners, plant Straw-
berries and Baspberries!"

The case of an invalid was cited some
years ago in the New York Tribune,
who lived a year on no other food than
Apples, and during the time gained in
flesh and strength. This person stat-
ed: "In my own case I had been very
much troubled with the ' heart-burn.'
I tried two meals a day, to which I still
adhere, Graham bread and water treat-
ment, but with only partial success.
Thanks to raw Apples I have no more
heart-burrl. I finish each meal with
two or three, and the cooling effect on
my stomach, and indirectly on my brain,
is most grateful. Formerly I was trou-
bled with wakefulness, would lie awake
thinking, unable to sleep, until late in
the night. I am wakeful no more.
When I commenced to eat Apples as a
remedy I weighed 130 pounds ; in less
than two months my weight was over
160 pounds, my strength increasing as
my weight. My food is now well di-
gested and assimilated, the hue of
health is restored to my cheek; in other
words, I am cured,"

We think if people would eat more
fruit, using it wisely, and throw medi-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

259

cine to the dogs, it would be a great
benefit to them, though it would not
benefit the quacks correspondingly.

Wjth regard to the fruit market:
The flowing into the market of large
quantities of Early Crawford and Til-
lotson Peaches from about the 20th to
the end of last month (July), was still
increasing, and the prices, of course,
were reduced in consequence. By the
single basket the Early Crawford sold
at $1.50 to $2, the Tillotson at 75 cents
to §1.50. These Peaches are large,
juicy, and well flavored, with a hand-
some red blush. California Cherries
were nearly out of market, but there
was a pretty good sprinkling that came
from Oregon, the season of course be-
ing later there. The supply of Apri-
cots was diminishing, and therefore the
prices were higher. Strawberries and
Plums, being on the increase, particu-
larly the latter, were cheaper. Ger-
man Prunes retailed at 15 cents. A
few green Bartlett Pears made their
appearance, which were only fit for
cooking. Apples were plentiful at 75
cents to $1.50 per box, delivered. A
further decline took place in Potatoes.
The best Early Rose and Halfmoon
Bay Reds were obtainable by the single
sack, delivered, at $1.50 to $1.75 per 100
lbs. String Beans, Tomatoes, and Egg
Plant were cheaper.

About the last of July the large quan-
tity of Peaches in the market had nearly
reached its height. The supply was nev-
er so heavy, not only from the great
crop this year, but from a largely increas-
ed planting of the trees. The supply was
very heavy this last week of July, and
continued much larger into the first two
weeks of this month (August), when it
began to fall off considerably. Choice
Early Crawfords were purchased by the
single basket at $1 and $1.25, deliver-
ed. Other varieties were even a little

cheaper. Plums were very plentiful,
and were probably as cheap as they
will be this season. Cherries and Cur-
rants were about out of market. Ap-
ples by the single box were selling at
75c. to $1.50, and Pears at $1 to $1.50
for common, and $2.50 for Bartlett.

In the vegetable market very little
change took place in prices. Sweet
Potatoes were more abundant and
cheaper. By the sack, the best sold at
$2.25 to $2.50 per 100 lbs. Halfmoon
Bay Red and Early Rose were steady
at $1.50 per 100 lbs., delivered.

The great event in the fruit market
about the beginning of this month (Au-
gust), has been the immense -and un-
precedented numbers of boxes of Peach-
es, chiefly Crawfords, which have made
their splendid appearance. All fruits
this year are of the finest quality and
size, owing chiefly, no doubt, to the
plentiful rains during the winter, up to
a late period in spring. These rains
have given the trees a vigorous and
healthy growth, and rendered the
Peaches and other fruits quite juicy arJfl
good flavored. The daily arrivals of
Peaches have varied lately from 5,000
to 8,000 packages, and exceeding the
receipts of any former period. The
supply was so great that commission
merchants found it impossible to work
it off, except at rates that the producers
thought were ruinous. The new fruit-
growers have suffered greatly, the old
ones can better stand it, as they have
heretofore done well, the prices having
been in previous years much better than
now. Single baskets of the best Peach-
es could be purchased from the jobbers
and peddlers at 60 to 75 cents, and a
fair article for 25 to 40 cents, with 25
cents added for delivery. This glut in
Peaches had a depressing and demor-
alizing effect upon the fruit market
generally, Plums and Apples in partic-

260

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

ular suffering a heavy decline. Good
Apples and Bartlett Pears were not
very abundant, and prices were main-
tained. The former sold by the box at
$1 to $2, delivered. Grapes were plen-
tiful at the following rates : Sweetwa-
ter and Chasselas, 5 to 8c; Rose of Pe-
ru and Black Hamburg, 10 to 12^c;
Muscat, 15 to 20c. per lb. Red Cling
Nectarines were on the stands in small
quantities, and when ripe, very deli-
cious. Vegetables were generally un-
changed, though Potatoes were cheap-
er. Good to choice by the single sack
sold at $1 to $1.25 per 100 lbs., deliv-
ered.

NEW PLANTS.

New Double "White Clematis. — In
Lucie Lemoine we have a new double-
flowering white Clematis which is des-
tined to take high rank among these
beautiful garden flowers. It is a Con-
tinental variety, as yet but little known,
for, as we have had so many introduced
of late by the English raisers, it has
been well nigh overlooked. Hence the
necessity of directing prominent atten-
tion to it. It is an early-flowering va-
riety, and the flowers, which are of the
purest white, are produced very freely ;
they are rather larger than those of
John Gould Veitch, and more double.
It can be strongly recommended for
pot-culture, as a conservatory climber,
and for out-door decoration generally.
It now appears to be in the hands of all
the principal nurserymen.

Feitillabia pudica. — A beautiful yel-
low-flowering bulb of Utah and Califor-
nia ; is finding its way into general
culture. Unlike so many of these far
Western things it seems to be adapted
to Eastern culture. The flower much
resembles the Snowdrop in form, and
flowers a little earlier than that well-

known favorite. It might be called
yellow Snowdrop.

Feitillaeia eecueva (Benth.), with
flowers worthy of being described as
scarlet, is in flower at Kew, and, it is
needless to say, is a striking object. It
grows to a height of from one to two
feet, though the present example is less
than six inches, from the fact of the
bulbs having been somewhat weak, and
without sufficient time to get establish-
ed. The leaves are very narrow, and
of a grayish green tint. The flowers
number from three to eight, are nar-
rowly campanulate, and from an inch to
an inch and a half long, but in this case
they are smaller. No other known spe-
cies" can approach this in color. On
first expansion it appears most brilliant,
being afterward apparently toned down
with an increase of yellow, which would
seem the ground color. The tessella-
tion is somewhat obscure, though evi-
dent on close examination. On the in-
side the perianth is distinctly yellow,
and is covered with numerous usually
linear scarlet spots. It is a native of
California, and will doubtless prove one
of the most interesting bulbs intro-
duced.

Cheilanthes eragrans. — A very pretty
dwarf Cy stopteris - like Fern, forming
dense tufts in vertical fissures of rocks
fully exposed {o the sun. Fronds
bright green, two or three times divid-
ed, with deep brown bristly - scaled
stalks; highly fragrant with the scent
of new -mown hay. A native of the
mountains of Corsica and Switzerland.
Probably hardy in favorable situations.
Phobmium Colensoi variegattjm. —
This beautiful plant has narrowish,
erect, pointed, dark -green leaves,
scarcely an inch in width, elegantly
banded at the margin with one or
sometimes two narrow stripes of creamy
white. It has the same distichous mode

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

261

of growth of P. tenax, but is altogether
a smaller and more elegant plant, while
its more erect habit and narrower leaves
give it quite a distinct appearance from
that of the variegated Phormium tenax.
It is a native of New Zealand.

CORYNOSTYLIS HYBANTHUS ALBIELORA.

The genus Corynostylis belongs to the
family of the Violets, and consists of
semi-scandent shrubs.

6ditaviat <&Um\n$$.

FLOWEKS.

There is no season in the year

That lifts man's heart to heaven so near

As summer ;
When flowers about our pathway grow,
And Roses on the hedgerows blow ;

Sweet summer!

And as its perfumed breath doth rise,
In silent homage to the skies

Up-stealing,
A thousand memories forth start,
Long-hidden pictures in the heart

Revealing ;

"Where Lilac-chains with scented links,
Or treasured tuft of red Clove Pinks,

Or Heather
'Mongst which we played, fond stories tell
Of parted ones, who once did dwell

Together.

Again, the feathery seeds away
Are puffed to tell the time of day ;

"Whilst golden-
Hued Cowslips into balls we twine,
Or part the horns in Columbine

Enfolden.

"Whilst through the woods the whole day long
The cuckoo sings an idle song,

Awaking
The echo of a dulcet peal,
That rang ere hearts began to feel

Heart-breaking ;

And so it comes to pass that we
With half a sigh the flowers see,

Half gladness ;
And round our hearts they twine and twine,
Until their beauty makes divine

Our sadness.

— Julia Goddard.

Economy in Heat. — " T." writes as
follows in the Western Farm Journal on
a subject which is of interestto all house-
keepers :

" For a number of years the writer
has used, for warming three rooms, a
single heating stove, the heat from
which passes through two drums. One
of these drums is placed in a room ad-
joining that containing the stove, and
the other is up stairs in a room above
the second one. For several weeks ex-
periments have been made, by observa-
tions with thermometers, which prove
that the intermediate drum, or that be-
tween the stove and the last one, heats
the room from six to twelve degrees
hotter (according to the wind) than the
stove can heat, although both rooms are
of the same size, and the drum is some-
what smaller than the stove. The room
up stairs, fully thirty-five feet distant
from the fire, is made quite comforta-
ble for a sleeping room throughout the
entire winter. These facts are only
stated to show what an immense amount
of caloric is wasted by our system of
heating with stoves, the pipe from
which passes directly into the open air.
Fuel, and consequently expense, is not
only saved by the use of sheet iron
drums, but the house is more comfort-
ably and completely warmed, not only
with less fuel, but with no trouble of
keeping and making up fires, carrying
in wood or coal and carrying out ashes,
and cleaning up the dirt caused by do-
ing so."

Trees and Rain. — The bulletin of the
Torrey Botanical Club contains a sug-
gestive paragraph in reference to the
influence of trees upon rain and atmos-
pheric moisture, as shown by the expe-
rience of the Island of Santa Cruz, in the
"West Indies. This island is said to
have been a garden of freshness, beau-

262

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

ty, and fertility twenty years ago ; it
was covered with woods, trees were ev-
erywhere abundant, and rains were pro-
fuse and frequent. The recent visit of
a gentleman who had known the island
in its palmier days revealed a lamenta-
ble change, one-fourth of the island
having become an utter desert. The
forests and trees had been cut away,
rainfalls had ceased, and the process of
desiccation, beginning at one end of
the island, had advanced gradually and
irresistibly upon the land, until for
seven miles it had become as dry and
barren as the seashore. Houses and
plantations had been abandoned, and
the advance of desolation was watched
by the people, wholly unable to pre-
vent it, but knowing almost to a cer-
tainty the time when their own habita-
tions, their gardens, and fresh fields
would be a part of the waste. Indeed,
the whole island seemed doomed to be-
come a desert. This sad result is owing
entirely, according to the belief of the
inhabitants, to the destruction of the
trees upon the island some years ago.

Almond Cultuke. — The San Luis
Obispo Tribune says : " The Almond
is the fruit for general culture for prof-
it. It has been demonstrated by the
trees growing upon Mr. Andrews' place,
that for our country Almonds are a
veritable bonanza. Just think of the
possibility of a return of $1,500 from
one acre of land. This is not a wait-
ing of twelve or fifteen years, as in
Orange culture. The fourth year Al-
monds will repay all outlay up to that
date ; the fifth year, as in the case of
Mr. Andrews, 100 pounds of fruit to the
tree is possible and probable. One
hundred trees to the acre gives 10,000
pounds, or five tons, to the acre. The
wholesale market price is from eight-
een to twenty -five cents per pound.

Take twenty cents as the average, and
we get a return of $2,000. This is too
much, so we will reduce it one-half, and
then make as much as the best Orange
orchard in the State. The living evi-
dence of these figures may be seen with-
in half a mile of the court-house. Col-
onel Hollister has planted 25,000 Al-
monds, and within a year or two his
income from this source will be the talk
of the world. Let our people profit by
this example, and plant liberally dur-
ing the coming season."

Andromeda arborea. — "We seldom see
in pleasure grounds the Andromeda ar-
borea (sometimes called Lyonia arborea),
and yet it is one of the prettiest of de-
ciduous trees of moderate growth, and
when in blossom it forms an object of
singular elegance. The tree is some-
what erect in its habit of growth, and
is clothed with largish oblong serrated
leaves, which have an acid taste, whence
it has been called the Sorrel-tree. But
its chief interest is to be found in its
flowers, which are so much like the
bells of the Lily of Valley in outward
aspect, that the branched panicles
might almost be imagined to be made
up of a loose cluster of Lily spikes.
The resemblance of the horizontal one-
sided racemes is, indeed, so striking,
that the name of Lily-of-the- Valley
Tree might not inappropriately be ap-
plied to the species , the more so as it
inhabits the valleys of the Alleghanies.
This is one of the choice, old-fashioned,
neglected plants one meets with in such
collections as that at the Knap Hill
Nursery. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Vermont Beauty Potato in England.
— A correspondent of the London Gar-
den speaks enthusiastically of the Ver-
mont Beauty Potato, which is worthy
of note inasmuch as American sorts do

THE CALIFOENIA HOETICULTUKIST.

263

not, as a rule, succeed any better in
England than the English sorts do here.
In speaking of the above named variety
he says : ,c This has proved here to be
a most excellent late-keeping variety ;
to-day I have had a dish of it cooked,
and I have never eaten a better Potato.
I mentioned some time ago that this is
one of the best of the American kinds,
aye, and of English sorts, too. It is
also a handsome Potato ; that coarse-
ness both in haulm and root, so gener-
al in the American Potatoes, is quite
wanting in the Vermont Beauty. Its
comparative freedom from disease, its
short haulm, heavy crop, and early-
ripening and late-keeping properties all
contribute to make it one of our best
garden Potatoes. It has the smooth,
clean surface of the best of English-
raised Potatoes, and in many other re-
spects leaves them a long way behind.
Snowflake kept along with Vermont
Beauty is not nearly so good."

Shikagi Mushi. — This is a kind of silk-
worm that feeds on the leaves of the
Chestnut tree, but if reared artificially
it becomes lean and the thread is thin.
In the common way of reeling only a
very inferior thread is obtained ; there-
fore the following method has been
adopted: After the worm has reached
its full size, it is laid in vinegar that
has been boiled once. Then a slight
cut is made just behind the scales of
the head, but without injuring the gut;
then, taking the latter with the fingers
of one hand and the body of the worm
with the fingers of the other hand, it is
drawn a little out of the body. Then
the worm is laid in vinegar again, and
after a while the gut is pulled out a lit-
tle further, and so on. Through the
influence of the vinegar the gut changes
its color into white, and can gradually
be pulled out to a length of five or six

feet without breaking. This thread is
very strong, and also transparent, and
chiefly used for fishing purposes.

Impoktance of Fokests. — At the nine-
teenth annual meeting of the Scottish
Arboricultural Society, held recently,
the president, in his inaugural address,
alluded to the beneficial effects of the
maintenance of a due proportion of for-
est land in every country, from the
shelter it gives in spring and protec-
tion from high winds, as well as to the
common belief that malaria and flights
of locusts and noxious insects, etc., are
often arrested by belts of forest. He
then proceeded to sketch the evils that
have followed the reckless cutting down
of indigenous wood in many countries,
where, only when it was too late, have
measures been adopted for preserving
the forests. He urged the necessity of
prudence and caution in all operations
which, on a large scale, interfere with
the primeval arrangements of the or-
ganic and inorganic world.

Gkeenhouse Plants in Booms. — The
various greenhouse plants which are
kept in rooms require a constant sup-
ply of water, which should always be
applied on the tops of the pots, and
from no consideration whatever should
any be suffered to remain in the water
pans or saucers under the pots, and
they must also be kept clean from dead
leaves, etc. They must be fumigated
when there is any appearance of insects.
"With respect to air, the plants should
have a good share in fine, warm weath-
er. It is a very common practice to
open the under sash window where the
plants stand; when thus exposed to
the draft it injures them more than if
they were actually exposed to the open
air. When they begin to grow long
and spindling, the tops of the shoots

264

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

should be nipped off with a pair of
scissors, which will cause them to be-
come thick and bushy.

Growing Tuberoses. — To cultivate the
Tuberose, one of the most beautiful of
all plants, put the bulbs in six-inch
pots, three in each, and use a mixture
of equal parts of turfy loam, peat, and
leaf -mould, and place them in a pit.
Give very little water at first, and as
they commence to grow freely increase
it, and keep near the glass. When they
begin to push up their flower spikes
they will of necessity require to be put
where they will have sufficient space for
the proper development of these tall
spikes. These will come into bloom
from August to October, when they will
require a temperature ranging from six-
ty to seventy degrees, the latter being
preferable.

"The Catalpa tree," says Landreth's
Rural Register, "indigenous to the
greater portion of the Union, has been
long known to a limited number to pos-
sess wood of an enduring quality for
posts ; as lasting, it is claimed, as the
Black or Yellow Locust — Bobinia pseudo
acacia — but, fortunately unlike it, ex-
empt from insect attack ; indeed, so far
as our observation has been extended,
it is not liable to disease direct or con-
sequential; and as the tree grows read-
ily from seed, there need be no impedi-
ment in propagating it to any extent
desired. Fence-rows, boundaries, lanes,
the roadside, impracticable plats of
ground, inaccessible knolls, might each
be seized upon for planting this useful
and ornamental tree."

A Paradise of Fruit — Mr. Hewitt's
premises at Santa Rosa contain about
thirteen acres, running from Fourth
Street back to Santa Rosa Creek. His

residence is a large and handsome two-
story brick, completely surrounded by
an orchard containing very nearly all
sorts of fruit-trees. Those immediate-
ly in front and about the dwelling are
handsome Almond and Walnut -trees,
while his large orchard in the rear con-
tains Almonds, Blackberries, Raspber-
ries, Grapes, Apricots, Prunes, Cher-
ries, Chestnuts, Plums, and all kinds of
Apples, Peaches, and Pears. And all
are full of fruit — some breaking down
with it. — Democrat.

Largest American Nursery. — The
nursery of Ellwanger & Barry, at Roch-
ester, is the largest establishment of
the kind in America, occupying 650
acres, containing 16 plant houses which
cover 30,000 square feet of ground, em-
ploying 250 men for the eight months,
more in the packing season, and 50 in
winter, besides a large number of trav-
eling agents. They keep 30 horses.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,

Foe the Month ending July 31, 1876.

(Prepared for The Horticui/ttjbist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
18 Market Street.)

BAEOMETEE.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.04 in.

do 12m 30.04

do 3 p. m 30.04

do 6p.m 30.03

Highest point on the 10th at 12 m 30.16

Lowest point on the 6th at 6 p. m 29.88

THEEMOMETEB.
( With north exposure and free from reflected heat.)

Mean height at 9 a. m 64°

do 12 m 68°

do 3 p. m 67°

do 6 P. m 63°

Highest point on the 11th at 12 m 80°

Lowest point on the 6th at 6 p. m 58°

SELF - EEGISTEEING THEEMOMETEB .

Mean height during the night 45°

Highest point at sunrise on the 2d 51°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 15th and 27th 42°

WINDS.
South - west on 3 days; west on 28 days.

WEATHEE.
Clear all day 11 days; cloudy all day 3 days; variable
on 17 days; misting rain on 1 day.

BAIN GAUGE. Inch.
6th 0.01

Phinese ^rimrose ^rimula sinensis.)

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI. SAST FRANCISCO, SEPTEMBER, 1876. No. 9.

WINTER FLOWERING PLANTS.

BY F. A. MTLLEB.

The winter season will soon approach
again, and flowers will become scarce
as usual, and on account of their scarc-
ity they will be much more appreciated
than during spring and summer, when
they are plentiful everywhere.. It is
time now to provide for the winter, in
order to establish plants sufficiently to
produce flowers when they are wanted.
We certainly can not rely upon the
open ground for flowers during winter,
as all depends on the weather, which,
even in the mild climate of California,
is severe on flowering plants; if there
will be flowers in the garden it will be
really accidental. Such shrubs as Di-
osma, Laurustinus, Habrothamnus, Er-
icas, a few varieties of Fuchsias and
Zonale G-eraniums will give some flow-
ers, and are very acceptable, but these
are considered common here, and others
are wanted to make up a variety. In a
few sheltered places we may see a some
Roses, Cestrums, Abutilons, Plumbago,
a few Pinks, Veronica, Sweet Alyssum,
and perhaps in a very well protected
place some Heliotrope, but they can

Vol. VI.— 18.

not be relied upon. Toward Christmas
Violets will be coming in, and help out
very much, but more is wanted. The
outdoor flowers are weather-beaten,
rusty looking, and without much scent,
except the Violets and Diosma. Flow-
ers raised under glass are brighter,
more perfect, cleaner, and better in
every respect.

The question is, "What plants are
most desirable for winter flowering?

The Camellia certainly stands fore-
most. The beauty of the flower is un-
equaled, and the plant itself is a pleas-
ing object. Some say the Camellia is
hard to cultivate. This is certainly a
mistake; no plant requires less atten-
tion than the Camellia. A few hints
may be acceptable: The Camellia re-
quires a shady place ; gas is injurious ;
over -potting is detrimental, and too
much water will cause the buds to drop,
while it is equally as bad to let the soil
get dry ; give plenty of air ; syringe
frequently, and keep the foliage clean ;
provide good drainage in the bottom of
the pot, and keep the soil moderately
damp, neither too wet nor too dry.
With these suggestions any one can
cultivate the Camellia without risk of
loss, and every bud will expand.

266

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

The Azalea indica ranks next to the
Camellia as a winter flowering plant,
although its flowering season commen-
ces really in January here. Amateurs
tell me that Azaleas are also hard to
cultivate. This is another mistake.
Treat the Azalea in the very same way
as prescribed for the Camellia, and suc-
cess is certain, with one exception, and
that is more light. During our cloudy
winter months the Azalea ought to have
all the light we can provide for it, ex-
cepting a burning sun, which is injuri-
ous to them. During summer, how-
ever, and during their season of rest,
a shaded and protected place in the
open air is most desirable. Keep them
in small pots, well drained, and never
allow the soil to get dry.

The Chinese Primrose is most desir-
able for winter flowers, particularly the
double varieties, which are rather scarce
as yet in this market. In the absence
of the double varieties, the single ones
will do very well, and are indispensa-
ble. If provided with light and rich
soil, they will furnish a profusion of
flowers all winter through.

Bouvardias are most desirable for
winter use, but they require a rather
warm temperature in order to have them
flower continuously ; plenty of sun and
light and air, whenever the weather
permits, are very essential for their
success.

Begonias are indispensable, and give
general satisfaction ; they are also easi-
ly cultivated. The following varieties
are the best for winter flowering: B.
nitida, R. parvifolia, B. Weltoniensis, B.
odorata, B. Verschaffelti, and B. semper-
fiorens. Strong healthy plants potted
in six-inch pots now, will produce an
abundance of flowers during the entire
winter season. If a little artificial heat
can be given, so much the better for
them.

Heliotrope is most valuable at any
time. Such as have been planted out
in the border of the greenhouse should
now be cut back so as to obtain plenty
of young wood, which will develop the
flowers; a good top-dressing of old ma-
nure or some manure water will help
them very much. Young vigorous plants
shifted now in six-inch pots, will make
fine flowering plants for the coming
winter.

Hyacinths are very desirable for win-
ter. The new imported bulbs will come
in now, and a good supply should be
laid in at once, and planted at different
times, in order to have them in bloom
successively. Their cultivation is sim-
•ple, and I have given some suggestions
about their treatment at various times.

Eupatoriums are now extensively cul-
tivated for winter cut flowers, and cer-
tainly they are a most productive class
of plants. A few strong plants in six
or eight-inch pots will give a profusion
of white flowers. Eupatorium aramati-
cum flowers during the early part of
winter, while Eupatorium riparium, the
best of the two, comes into bloom in
January and February. Both are in-
dispensable for cut flowers.

In the next number of the Horticult-
urist I will add a number of others
which may be relied upon for winter
use.

THE DOUBLE FLOWERING PEACH AND
ITS TREATMENT.

BY E. J. HOOPEB.

We hardly know of any flowering
tree that exhibits such a lovely display
of rich and gaily-colored blossoms at a
very early period of the year, as the
above Peach. The common and double
flowered Almond, this double-blossomed
Peach, and the dwarf and double dwarf
Almond, in the East and in Europe,

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

267

where they are most seen and cultivated,
are all favorites in the flower garden
and shrubbery, but in California they
have been but seldom introduced for
such ornamental purposes, and not near
so much as their beauty entitles them
to. But the double -flowering Peach,
to perpetuate its great attractive fea-
tures from year to /ear, requires a some-
what peculiar treatment in the mode of
pruning it, as, under ordinary treatment
in that respect, it will become really un-
sightly; the limbs forming their heads
increase in thickness, and make young
wood only at the ends, so that in the
course of a year or two the trees look like
other Peach trees not regularly pruned
and pinched. To give a good shape to
these trees, the principle to be adhered
to should be, not to suffer the formation
and increase of old wood after the
frame-work of the tree has been estab-
lished. They should be headed very
severely back after they have ceased to
blossom in the Spring. This operation
would also do very well in winter, and
would in that case run less risk of los-
ing the blossoms for a year. By this
means the stumps of the limbs so cut
off will produce a large number of vig-
orous shoots, which should not be
pinched during the summer, and which
will give in the spring following a pro-
fusion of beautiful blossoms. In this
way the trees will retain their shape,
and the number of young shoots will be
doubled every year. Should the heads
of the trees grow too dense, they must
be thinned out. When they are in
bloom, as we have observed, they are
exceedingly beautiful and showy.

The varieties are the following:
Amygdalusversicafi.pl., A. versicolor fi.
pi., A. alba fi. pi., A. communis fl. pi.,
A. dianthiflora fl. pi., A. camellicefiorafi.
pi. The versicolor is especially remark-
able : it bears snowy white and dark red

flowers, of all shades of color, between
dark -red and white, on the same
branches. It was introduced by Von
Siebold, from Japan, not many years
ago. It would be gratifying to us,
should we, by this article, induce some
zealous amateurs, like Mr. Harmon, of
Oakland, for example, to plant the dou-
ble flowering heads, and to treat them as
described in the above. They delight
in friable loamy soil, and should have
an airy position, open to the course of
the sun, but sheltered on the1 western
side. Propagation is usually effected
by budding on the common Plum stock,
the stronger growing kinds at the
height of standards and the dwarfs
considerably lower ; their relative
strength suiting the former for the
interior of small groups of trees, and
the lower growing kinds finding a fit
position near the front of such masses,
or the centre of flower beds. The
common Almond produces seed abun-
dantly when at maturity, and may be
increased by its means ; the product
forming excellent stocks on which to
work the other varieties.

BIKDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

BY AN OKNITHOLOGIST.

Australia, and especially New South
Wales, is as rich in birds as she is poor
in quadrupeds. But a few years more,
and the birds most admired for their
plumage will have almost disappeared,
as sad havoc has been and still is made
among them for ornaments to ladies'
hats, etc. The Rifleman — sole repre-
sentative of the Birds of Paradise — with
its lustrous changing hues of green and
purple, is now rarely to be found, ex-
cept in the far north, where the bushes
are yet uncleared The brilliant or-
ange and black of bhe Regent Bird is

268

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

more common in London streets than
on the Clarence River, and the many-
tinted Dragoon birds are also fast per-
ishing for the same reason. The sweet
little Pink-headed Dove, with its glossy
skull-cap of satin, fares no better; and
even the tiny warblers are vanishing
fast from the bush, though common in
the gardens. As regards the game
birds, which have been grievously thin-
ned, we think it probable that many
species now scarce will multiply again.
There are still some magnificent Bus-
tards— by some called Turkeys — and
very large-sized Snipe are pretty abund-
ant. Some well-to-do farmers are at-
tempting to preserve a fair head of
game birds, especially Quail and the
Bronze-wing Pigeons. The fruit-eat-
ing Pigeons are expected to disappear
with the beautiful "brushes" where
they find their food, and the Snipe
(splendid fellows, almost double the
size of the English "whole snipe"),
will be confined to the marsh lands.
Nearly all the water birds will proba-
bly keep their footing. The Teal, the
Black Duck, and the " Whistler," take
kindly to large open tanks and reser-
voirs. There are already in Australia
and New South Wales a few English
Pheasants, and to these are added the
Francolin of the Cape and the beautiful
California Quail, and also the numerous
Japanese species of Pheasants, which
will probably do better in that soil and
climate than the English.

Two characteristics of the birds of
Australia and New South Wales are es-
pecially worthy of notice — their want
of song and their playfulness — we had
almost said their love of fun. It is,
however, true that song birds, so nu-
merous in England, and tolerably nu-
merous in the United States, are a very
small class in Australia. There is a
" Blue Thrush," common in the scrub,

which has a sweet though monotonous
song. So have some of the delicate
little warblers. But the one notable
exception to the general rule of song-
lessness is found in the well-known
Australian Magpie, a black and white
bird, closely resembling its saucy En-
glish namesake in hue and habits,
though not in shape. He can pour
forth as clear and fine notes of melody
as the English Blackbird :

" The mellow blackbird fluting in the Elm."

This Magpie is more precious as a song-
ster because he is of a sociable turn,
and loves to haunt the abodes of men.
The Australian Butcher Bird has a very
sweet pipe, but it is rarely heard in the
bush, though it is much cultivated in
captivity. Australian birds generally
seem to have a word, a phrase, a mimic
utterance of some familiar sound, rath-
er than a song. Others utter a note as
an echo of some familiar sound. The
Bell Bird, for instance, frequently de-
ceives by his clear, metallic call, exact-
ly like the stray tinkle of a solitary
sheep bell, and it always announces
where water is near. The note of the
" Coachman " is still more whimsically
suggestive, accurately resembling the
" whish " of a long lash through the
air, when whirled and not cracked.
One of the Fruit Pigeons again, when
feeding at his leisure, utters from time
to time a solitary " Oh!" in a tone sug-
gestive of human mockery. Many of
the Australian birds are known as good
mimics when domesticated, but some of
them are so in their wild state — the
Lyre Bird, especially, whose beautifully
curved tail-feathers have cost him as
dear by their classical contour as their
golden crests did Solomon's favorite
Hoopoes, as a thorough mocking-bird.
But the queerest of mocking-birds,
though in a different sense, is that

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTURIST.

269

strange creature known as the "Laugh-
ing Jackass," in form a huge Kingfish-
er, but in plumage much like a Jay.
He is called sometimes the Australian
Dacelo. For reckless, rollicking joy-
ance, with a dash of elfish malice, there
is nothing like his laugh. But let a
snake or a lizard glide through the
grass under his perch, and he drops on
the enemy with a stroke of the bill so
heavy and sudden that he generally
has it his own way in the after struggle.
The stately Blue Crane, known as the
" Native Companion," will stand by the
hour on one leg, with all the gravity of
the heron, or a stork on a Dutch chim-
ney stack. A similar mania for strange
attitudes possesses the Mooruk, the
Casawary of North-western Australia.
It seems to have a notion of astonish-
ing somebody or something, not only
by dancing and jumping, but by a sort
of charge at full speed toward any crea-
ture in its neighborhood. Just when
you would expect to see a collision, or
at least a vicious peck, this bird pulls
up short, his neck effaced, his head in
the middle of his breast, with the long
dark hackles ruffled up all around like
the snaky tresses round the Gorgon, or
the rays round the sun's droll face in a
village sign. The Bower birds have a
different notion of amusement, more
like that of a fashionable lady who
makes her apartments sliowy with all
manner of strangely assorted nic-nacs,
and then gives a dance or drum to her
admiring friends. They inlay a small
patch of ground in the bush with a
quaint variety of ornaments, often
brought from great distances, and even
(though their general habits are very
shy), from the habitations of man.
Shells, bright leaves, and berries, ends
of colored worsted, showy remnants of
colored stuff, and even fragments of
china and glittering metal, are laid

down as a sort of fancy carpeting.
They are very playful and active in all
their movements in and about their
nests and arbors of boughs and twigs,
through which they make arches. The
adult males have a rich court suit of
purple-black satin ; the quieter plum-
age of the matrons is mottled with
green, brown, and yellow.

The Lyre Bird shows a similar game-
someness. But no traveler in the bush
can help being struck by the restless
vivacity of the Australian Mina bird,
popularly known as the " Old Soldier."
This is the commonest bird in the bush.
He is rather larger than the American
mocking-bird, with a handsomely-shad-
ed buff coat, dark skull cap, and pow-
erful bill, thick at the base and fining
rapidly to a sharp point — a comely bird
enough, but with an air of vulgar im-
pudence like that of the London or En-
glish sparrow, now becoming so common
in some of our largest American cities,
and in San Francisco. This " Old Sol-
dier " is full of fun, but it is the fun of a
schoolboy, full of mischief and practi-
cal jokes. His diet combines seeds and
insects. He is deemed uneatable, and
therefore unmolested. He is strong
and quick on the wing. They are the
most provoking birds that can be met
with. When they can find no other
" diversion," they get up what looks
like a free fight among themselves.
Our next paper will be more concern-
ing the game birds of this singular
portion of the globe, or to point out
species uninteresting to the sportsman,
but easily tamed, and for vivacity and
cleverness hardly to be surpassed as
pets..

In Java a fruit tree is planted on the
birth of each child. In Biscay a land-
owner is obliged to put down two plants
for every tree he fells.

270

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

ABOUT THE WEATHEE.

BY METEOROLOGIST.

We are all aware how intimately the
degree of moisture in the air is connected
with the weather, and that warmth and
moisture are the primary conditions of
vegetable life. On these two principal
forces hangs almost entirely the distribu-
tion of plants over the earth. The animal
world follows the plants, since the veg-
table feeders are directly, the carnivora
indirectly, connected with determinate
formations of plants. So that heat and
cold are not the only consequences of
the position of the sun in regard to the
earth; but we also find depending upon
solar influences the very existence of life
itself. The raging hurricane, which hurls
immense objects and weights through
the air down to the invisible labor of the
most minute Infusorium — the hoarse
murmur of the Chilian Pine and the low
whisper of the northern Birch — the
roar of the lion, the slayer of the inno-
cent gazelle, even to the pipe of the
mouse-hunting screech-owl, whose dis-
cordant note the awakened sleeper's su-
perstition interprets as "komn mit,
komn mit" (come with me) — all ac-
knowledge the energy of the mighty
god of day. But to come to the effects
of the weather personally upon our-
selves, and to state more definitely
what we understand by the weather —
and nothing actually so deeply affects
our bodily and mental life as this.
"Who can say his health is absolutely
sound, when he thinks of the compli-
cated nature of our vital processes ?
Need we point to the influences of the
weather on those whom health is im-
perfect; how dependent all those affect-
ed with chronic diseases are for their
comfort on the condition of the weath-
er ? Every one knows the old proverb,
" Man is his own calendar." The con-

tinually annoying sensations in a dis-
eased joint, a wound, or the surface of
an amputated limb, even when the in-
dividual is otherwise perfectly healthy,
indicate the changes occurring in the
weather. Perhaps there is a shade of
mind for every shade of alteration in
the weather, which may be discovered
by the influence on the nerves, on those
objects with which it is so continually
in hostile contact. How much does
climate affect nations. There we see
an effeminate race : the despot reveling
in every sensual pleasure, the princes
all-powerful, the pariah oppressed and
trodden down, superstition instead of
enlightened faith, mere mechanical life
instead of mind. Here a mighty peo-
ple proud of their own power, where,
as the poet says, ' ' Liberty walks un-
hindered to the poorest huts, and scat-
ters wealth over the favored plains."
Let us, in short, review in one glance,
the gay Tahitians, the dull Fuegians,
the formal Chinese, the roving Bed-
ouins, the child-like Hindoos, the man-
ly English, the abstracted Germans,
the utilitarian Yankees, and we find
that all these, and the thousand other
varieties of human nature, are funda-
mentally dependent on, or promoted,
or affected, bj the weather — and let us
not overlook ourselves, the Californi-
ans. Who does not attribute our ener-
gy, vitality, health, and elasticity of
spirits, to the bracing, stimulating, and
genial nature of our climate, especially
on this peninsula, situated with the
great ocean and its breezes on one side,
and the tidal waters of its magnificent
bay on the other. In our regions, as
in others, it is the wind which, chang-
ing according to its various directions,
brings us clouds and sunshine, warmth
and cold, rain, and very rarely, snow
and hail, calm and storm, and through
all these, impresses upon the general

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

271

character of the season, and upon the
people of a country, the individual pe-
culiarities which we call weather. All
these different phenomena — and, above
all, the wind — are merely alterations,
various conditions of combination, rest
and motion of the subtile matters which
surround us, and which we name the
atmosphere.

We must confess that so far as ques-
tions of natural science are concerned,
we can not look upon the Bible as any
great authority, and, therefore, believe
that, in that passage, with many others
of that character — " The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it cometh and whither it goeth," ad-
dressed itself to a very circumscribed
condition of humanity in an uneducated
century, We believe now, most cer-
tainly, by meteorological researches
and scientific deductions, that we know
whence the wind comes and whither it
goes. We now know pretty well how
winds are caused, the expansion of air
by heat, the nature of our atmosphere,
the formation of clouds, the unequal
distribution of heat, the alternations of
storms and calms, the origin of trade
winds, properties of the polar and
equatorial currents, the zones of con-
stant and changeable weather, and their
laws of change, etc.

PKACTICAL USE OF LEAVES.

BY A BOTANIST.

There are two facts in the functions
of the leaf which are worth considera-
tion on account of their practical bear-
ing. The food of plants is, for the
most part, taken in solution, through
the roots. Various minerals — lime, si-
lex, alumina, magnesia, and potassa —
are passed into the tree in a dissolved

state. The sap passes to the leaf, the
superfluous water is given off, but not
the substances which it held in solu-
tion. These, in part, are distributed
through the plant, and, in part, re-
main as a deposit in the cells of the
leaf. Gradually the leaf chokes up,
its functions are impeded, and finally
entirely stopped. When the leaf drops
it contains a large per cent, of mineral
matter. An autumnal or old leaf yields,
upon analysis, a very much larger pro-
portion of earthy matter than a vernal
leaf, which, being yet young, has not
received within its cells any considera-
ble deposit. It will be found, also,
that the leaves contain a much higher
per cent, of mineral matter than the
wood of the trunk. The dried leaves
of the Elm contain more than eleven
per cent, of ashes (earthy matter), while
the wood contains less than two per
cent.; those of the Willow, more than
eight per cent., while the wood has
only 0.45; those of the Beech, 6.69, the
wood only 0.36; those of the Oak 4.05,
the wood only 0.21; those of the Pitch-
pine 3.15, the wood only 0.25 per cent. *
It is very plain from these facts that,
in forests, the mineral ingredients of the
sod perform a sort of circulation; en-
tering the root, they are deposited in
the leaf; then, with it, fall to the earth,
and by its decay they are restored to
the soil, again to travel their circuit.
Forest soils, therefore, instead of being
impoverished by the growth of trees,
receive back annually the greater pro-
portion of those mineral elements ne-
cessary to the tree, and besides, much
organized matter received in the plant
from the atmosphere; soils, therefore,
are gaining instead of losing. If own-
ers of parks, or groves, or plantations,

*See Doctor Grey's "Botanic Text Book,"
an admirable -work, which every horticulturist
should own and study.

272

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

for neatness' sake, or to obtain leaves
for other purposes, gather the annual
harvest of leaves, they will, in time,
take away great quantities of mineral
matter, by which the soil, ultimately,
will be impoverished, unless restored.

Leaf manure has always been held
in high esteem by gardeners. But
many regard it as purely vegetable sub-
stance; whereas, it is the mineral ma-
nure that can be applied to the soil.
What are called vegetable loams (not
peat soils made up principally of decay-
ed roots)j contain large quantities of
earthy matter, being mineral, rather
than vegetable soils.

Every gardener should know that the
best manure for any plant is the de-
composed leaves and substance of its
own species. This fact will suggest
the proper course with reference to the
leaves, tops, vines, haulm, and other
vegetable refuse of the garden.

The other fact coDnected with the
leaf, is the function of exhalation. The
greatest proportion of crude sap which
ascends the trunk, upon reaching the
leaf, is given forth again to the atmos-
phere, by means of a particularly beau-
tiful economy. The quantity of moist-
ure produced by a plant is hardly
dreamed of by those who have not spe-
cially informed themselves. The ex-
periments of Hales have been often
quoted. A Sun-flower, three and a
half feet high, presenting a surface of
5.616 square inches exposed to the sun,
was found to perspire at the rate of
twenty to thirty ounces avoirdupois ev-
ery twelve hours, or seventeen times
more than a man. A vine with twelve
square feet exhaled at the rate of five
or six ounces a day. A seedling Apple-
tree, with twelve square feet of foliage,
lost nine ounces a day. * These are ex-

*Lindley's "Horticulture," p. 42-44. Grey's
Botany, p. 131.

periments on very small plants. The
vast amount of surface presented by a
large tree must give off immense quan-
tities of moisture. The practical bear-
ings of this fact of vegetable exhalation
are not a few. Wet forest lands, by
being cleared of timber, become dry,
and streams fed from such sources be-
come almost extinct, as civilization en-
croaches on wild woods. The exces-
sive dampness of crowded gardens is
not singular, and still less is it strange
that buildings covered with vines, whose
windows are choked with shrubs, and
whose roof is overhung with branches
of trees, should be intolerably damp;
and when the good housewife is scrub-
bing, scouring, and brushing, and nev-
ertheless marveling that her house is
so infested with mould, she hardly sus-
pects that her troubles would be more
easily removed by the axe or saw, than
by all her cloths and brushes. A house
should never be closely surrounded
with shrubs. A free circulation of air
should be maintained all about it, and
shade trees so disposed as to leave large
openings for the light and sun to enter.
Unusual rains in any season produce so
great a dampness in our residences
that no one can fail to notice its effect,
both on the health of its occupants and
upon the beauty and good condition of
their household substance. But it is a
good thing to encourage, and profitable
to plant trees in groves, and to make
woods in this State, not only for the
future timber, but to enrich the soil
with their leaves, or to use their leaves
for manure for other lands or gardens,
as well as to create and attract rains
and moisture as an antidote against
droughts, or for shelter against high
winds.

Japanese lacquer is extracted from a
tree, and while soft is a rank poison.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

273

§0(1 Kttfl $tw.

DOVE SHOOTING IN NEVADA COUNTY.

We accepted an invitation to a day's
shooting with the Grass Valley Hunt-
ing Club, at the close of last month,
and confess we enjoyed the Dove hunt
to its full measure. This club dates
way back into the early California days,
and first went by the name of the Frog
Club, instituted by Mons. Chavanne, a
most genial and whole-hearted French-
man, who some fourteen years ago
amassed a competency in quartz mining
near Crass Valley, and had returned to
la belle France, to enjoy the fruits of his
labor. He was now on a visit to his
old friends (and they are many and
dear ones) and was one of the party on
this day. Some twenty odd persons
participated in the out-door sport, all
arrangements being under the special
care of Messrs. Hall and Fryer, of the
Fryer Noble Metal Mining Company,
to whom we are indebted for the very
enjoyable time we have had in the foot-
hills of that region. We were on the
ground early in the morning, and about
half of the party dispersed over a cir-
cuit of several miles, returning at nine
o'clock with a mess of over a hundred
doves. They were in prime condition,
but rather wild, and after the most
careful manipulation of our cook, A.
Dibble, Esq. , of Grass Valley, ably as-
sisted by Mr. Hall, were brought upon

the table in a most appetizing manner.
It was a royal feast — but of course we
were hungry. Taking our rest during
the noon hours we again went forth to
the hunt and returned with perhaps one
hundred more birds, and some squirrels
for our afternoon meal at four o'clock,
which we enjoyed in the shape of a rel-
ishing stew. Hon. Wm. Watt presided
on the occasion, and with wine and wit,
as side dishes, we must permit our
readers to imagine the good things that
were said and done at that glorious
meal, save the tribute paid to the de-
parted comrades by the cook — who on
this occasion was permitted to take a
seat at the master's table — which, for
masterly and affecting language could
not be excelled. Here we met the pion-
eers of twenty or more years, here we
saw the tearful and affectionate expres-
sion of feeling, as reference was made
to those who had gone before, and here
we saw how the stalwart men had
formed a most lasting friendship, which
we hope and believe will extend to that
other and far better world.

THE GAME AND FISH LAWS.

The following presents in the most
condensed form, all the laws relating
to the preservation of game and fish.
It contains the gist of these laws, as
amended by the last Legislature, 1875-6,
and its production here is the result of
careful and laborious research :

274

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

It is unlawful to kill elk, deer, moun-
tain sheep or antelope between the first
day of January and the first day of Sep-
tember in any county in this State.
(Penal Code, Section 628.) Amended:
Except that in Nevada county, it is un-
lawful to kill them between the first day
of February and the first day of August.
(Statute 1874, page 80.)

Every person who shall take, kill or
destroy any of the animals herein men-
tioned at any time, unless the carcass
of such animal is used or preserved by
the person slaying it, or is sold for food,
is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Penal
Code, Section 628.)

It is unlawful to kill quail, partridge,
grouse or any kind of wild ducks, in
any county of this State, between the
15th of March and the 15th of Septem-
ber, with the following exceptions: In
San Bernardino and Los Angeles they
shall not be killed between the 1st of
April and the 1st of August; and in
Lassen, Plumas and Sierra, quail, par-
tridge and grouse shall not be killed
between the 15th day of March and the
1st of September, nor wild ducks be-
tween the 15th of March and the 15th
of August; and in Siskiyou, sage hens
and prairie chickens shall not be killed
between the 1st of April and the 1st of
August. (Penal Code, sees. 626 and
and 627, amended; Stat. "1866, page
855.)

It is unlawful to catch trout in all the
counties of this State between the 15th
of October and the 1st of April, with
the following exceptions: In Butte
creek, above the falls in Butte county,
it is unlawful at all times to catch trout
until March 1, 1877. There is no law
to prevent the catching of trout at any
time in Siskiyou county. (Penal Code,
sec. 631; Stats. 1866, page 855; Politi-
cal Code, sec. 19; Stats. 1874, page 87;
Stats. 1876, page 725.)

It is unlawful to catch, take, buy, sell,
or have in possession, salmon, between
the 1st day of August and the 1st day
of November of each year. Del Norte,
Humboldt, Shasta and Mendocino coun,-
ties are specially exempted from the op-
eration of this Act, but in Eel river,
Humboldt county, salmon shall not be
caught between the 25th of November
and the 15th of September. (Penal
Code, sec. 634, amended; Stats. 1859,
page 298; and sec. 19 Political Code.)

It is unlawful to catch, have in pos-
session, or offer for sale, shad, at any
time prior to the first Monday in Decem-
ber, 1877.

Any person who buys, sells, or has in
his possession elk, deer or antelope,
quail, partridges or grouse, mallard,
wood, teal, spoonbill, or any kind of
wild ducks, within the time the taking
of the same is prohibited, except such
as are tamed or kept for show or curios-
ity, is guilty of misdemeanor. (Penal
Code, sec. 629.)

Every person who takes, catches or
kills any trout by the use of nets, weirs,
baskets or traps, is guilty of a misde-
meanor. (Penal Code, sec. 638.)

Every person who places or allows to
pass into any of the waters of this
State any lime, gas, tar, cocculus indi-
cus, or any other substance deleterious
to fish, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
And every person who uses any poison-
ous or explosive substances for the pur-
pose of taking or destroying fish is
guilty of a misdemeanor; provided that
sawdust shall not be deemed a deleteri-
ous substance. Any person who shall
take, catch, or carry away any trout or
other fish from any stream, pond or
reservoir belonging to any person or
corporation without the consent of the
owner thereof, which stream, pond or
reservoir has been stocked with fish by
hatching therein eggs or spawn, or by

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUEIST.

275

placing the same therein, is guilty of a
misdemeanor. (Penal Code, section
635 — amended.)

California Indians taking fish for their
own subsistence are exempted from the
penalties prescribed in sections 631, 632,
633 and 634.

Any person who shall set, use, or con-
tinue, or who shall assist in setting, us-
ing or continuing any pound, weir, or
set net, stake net, trap, or other fixed
or permanent contrivance for catching
fish in any of the waters of this State
is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any per-
son who shall hereafter close or keep
closed, or in condition to catch or en-
snare any shrimp, any pound, weir,
seine, stake net, trap, or other fixed or
permanent contrivance for catching the
same, placed in the waters aforesaid, is
guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person
who shall draw or shall assist in setting
or drawing any net or seine for the pur-
pose of taking shrimp in any of the
waters of the State, at any time between
the setting of the sun on the evening of
each Saturday and the rising of the sun
on the morning of the succeeding Mon-
day, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any
person who shall draw or who shall
assist in drawing any net or seine for
the purpose of taking fish in any of the
waters of this State, the meshes of
which are less than one and one-half
inches in size, is guilty of a misde-
meanor; provided, that nets with a
mesh of a smaller size may be used in
the catching of shrimps. Any person
who shall cast, extend or set any seine
or net of any kind for the catching of
fish in any river, stream, or slough of
this State, which shall extend more
than one-third across the width of said
river, stream, or slough, at the time and
place of said fishing, is guilty of a mis-
demeanor. Any person who, by seines,
or any other means, shall catch fish so

small as to be able to escape through a
mesh one and one-half inches in size, or
the young fish of any species, but
which, at the time of capture, are too
small to be marketable, and who shall
not return the same to the water imme-
diately and alive, or who shall sell or
offer for sale any such fish, is guilty of
misdemeanor. One-third of all penal-
ties recovered under this section shall
be paid to the informer, one-third to
the District Attorney of the county in
which the case is prosecuted, and one-
third to the school fund of said county.
Provided, that nothing in this section
shall be construed to affect any special
laws now in force in this State for the
preservation of fish; provided, that in
the waters of Carquinez straits and
Napa river set nets and stake nets may
be set and used of meshes not less than
two and a half inches. (Penal Code,
sec. 636, amended.)

Every owner of a dam or other ob-
struction in the waters of this State,
who, after being requested by the Fish
Commissioners so to do, fails to con-
struct or keep in repair sufficient fish-
ways or ladders on such dam or obstruc-
tion, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Penal Code, sec. 637.)

It is unlawful to catch fish in any
private waters without the consent of
the owners thereof. (Stats. 1869-70,
page 664.)

It is unlawful to take fish from Merritt
Lake by any means except hook and
line. Set nets, night lines and crawls
are prohibited. No wild birds or other
game may be taken from Lake Merritt,
or within a distance of one hundred
rods from high-water mark upon the
adjacent lands. (Stats. 1870, page
325.)

It is unlawful to use nets or seines in
Stockton or Mormon slough in San
Joaquin county. (Stats. 1854, page 191.)

276

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Every person who, in the counties of
Santa Clara, Contra Costa, San Joa-
quin, Santa Cruz or San Mateo, uses or
distributes phosphorus upon any land
or ground, between the first day of
March and the first day of November in
any year, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Penal Code, sec. 630.)

Every person who, in the counties of
Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo,
Monterey, Alameda, Marin, Placer,
Nevada, Plumas or Sierra, at any time,
takes or catches any trout, except
with hook and line, is guilty of a mis-
demeanor. (Penal Code, sec. 632,
amended.)

It is unlawful to hunt or shoot game
within the limits of private enclosed
lands in the counties of Alameda, San
Mateo, Marin, San Bernardino, San
Diego, Colusa, Sacramento, Sonoma,
Nevada, Humboldt, Los Angeles,
Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, San Luis
Obispo and Mendocino. (Stats. 1874,
page 792.)

It is unlawful for any person to catch
fish in the waters of the San Antonia
creek, in the county of Alameda, by the
use of seines, nets or weirs. (Stats.
1875-6, page 362.)

FLY DRESSING- A DESIRABLE ACQUIRE-
MENT—SALMON FLIES.

BY PISCATOE.

Take a No. 7 salmon hook, also a
piece of your strongest and roundest
gut, make a loop around a piece of
strong wire, or anything similar, and
tie with well-waxed silk the two ends
securely on the under-side of the shank,
leaving the loop only to project and sit,
when flat, at right angles to the bend;
begin to dress by tying in the tail-tuft,
then your tinsel and the point of your
hackle, which must be long and well
tapered; twirl your first-colored dub-

bing on your silk and wrap it up, next
the other colors, as you require, up to
the shoulder, which should be left full,
leaving sufficient of the shank to tie on
the wings and the head ; by means of
your tweezers or pliers wrap your tin-
sel twice round, close to the tail-tuft,
having previously cut off the superflu-
ous parts, then rib it evenly and firmly
up the body to the shoulders and there
fasten it, cutting off what remains;
next take the root of your hackle in
your tweezers and rib it evenly and
firmly between the tinsel up to the
shoulders, and make it father fuller
there and fasten it off, cutting away
what remains of the root; take one
wing and tie it on one side firmly, and
then the other on the other side; tie in
a peacock's herl for a head and wrap it
three or four times, then fasten all off
by a loop-knot or two very securely;
pick out the dubbing and hackle and
trim them neatly; set the wings, and the
fly is finished.

If you do not use a peacock's herl
for a head, wrap securely with your
silk, and finish off by varnishing it.

If your fly is not to be hackled up
the whole length of the body, and you
use floss silks instead of dubbing,
dress it in the same way until the body
is formed, then put in your hackle
feather for the legs, round the shoulder
frill, then tie on the wings and head, •
and the fly is dressed.

Be sure if you make your wings of
various colored feathers, to have them
all ready arranged before you begin to
dress.

We would recommend, as a very
great improvement in the form of a
salmon fly-hook, that it should be made
with a loop at the end of the shank of
the same wire as the hook — an arrange-
ment which will obviate all chafing of
gut-loops as at present used, and be

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

277

stronger. This would not add anything
to the -weight, and the flies would all
have good and secure loops, as long as
they lasted. It might be made, too,
rather of an oval form, standing end-
ways from the shank. The fly would
thus look neater, and the line would
always draw truer from the hook. Yery
fine flies, and all the best kinds of fish-
ing tackle, and guns, etc., can be ob-
tained at Wilson's on Clay, and Liddle
& Kaeding's, on Washington streets.

SHAD.

Shad is a good fish — one of the best.
And the rivers cannot be overstocked
with them for the reason that they run
into the sea in their first year and return
only to spawn.

Some four years ago the California
Fish Commissioners caused 45,000
young shad, brought from the hatch-
ing ponds in Connecticut, to be plaeed
in the Sacramento river, and it is now
known that their plant is a success, as
shad have been caught down the coast
as far as Wilmington, and up the coast
as far as Oregon, while a dozen or more
full grown have been taken out of the
Sacramento river — three large ones hav-
ing been caught close to this city while
running through the break in the Yolo
levee. The knowledge of the success
of this first plant gave joy to the Fish
Commissioners, and they ordered a car
load, say 3,500,000 of young shad for
this year, but the late warm weather at
the East destroyed the eggs and the
order could not be filled.

The United States Fish Commission-
ers were, however, kind to California,
and although they could not, for the
reason named, fill but a few of their
orders for shad, and these few only
partially, they brought to this State
120,000 of these young fishes, which

were placed in the Sacramento at
Tehama last week.

These shad will supply the whole
Pacific coast, as they will run from this
river into the sea and thence into other
rivers, and hence none have been taken
to Oregon, nor do we know that Ore-
gon has any organized commission to
look after her interest in this matter.
But these young fishes could not, it is
thought^be taken to Oregon in any case.
They are so tired after they reach here
after their seven days' journey, that
another day's travel might kill them.
The water has to be changed often on
the way, for the little ones being so
numerous soon exhaust it of fish food,
and they have to starve until another
supply of fresh water is furnished them.
Those in charge of these delicate little
beings keep on hand during the journey
across the continent a supply of hot
irons and ice with which to maintain
the water at a given temperature, and
so careful were they of the charge that
not over a thousand died on the jour-
ney.

Nothing, we are told, could exceed
the delight of these little things when
at this city they were changed from the
Truckee water, which is so barren of
fish food to the Sacramento river water,
which is known to be rich in fish food.
They dashed through it in search of
food in the liveliest manner imaginable,
and sported like little things to whom
new life had been imparted. — Sac. Bee.

DK. HITCHCOCK'S FISH PONDS.

Dr. G. K. Hitchcock, of this city,
and father-in-law of Howard Coit,
Esq., at his country residence in the
Napa valley, has utilized a picturesque
mountain stream, flowing near his door,
in the propagation of lake and brook
trout, salmon, etc. A portion of the

278

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

stream has been diverted from its
channel, and a series of small ponds
constructed beneath the dense shade.
These ponds swarm with splendid trout
of from six to eighteen inches in length,
each pond containing fish of nearly the
same size. He feeds them on minced
liver, and some of the fish are so tame
that they will take food from the hand
of their keeper. A huge trout, two
feet in length, known as "Ben Butler,"
obtained his cognomen in this way : the
keeper, while dishing out the daily
rations to his finny family with a spoon
on a certain occasion, this specimen of
bad manners and fishy greediness
leaped from the water and seized the
spoon. One of the most interesting
features is the hatching process, which
is performed in covered boxes with riffle
bars, something like a sluice box,
through which a small quantity of
water is permitted to flow. Here are
thousands of the Spring hatch, from
one to two inches in length. Among
the fry the spirit of cannibalism pre-
vails to a great extent, the fish of an
inch in length making "no bones" of
swallowing his fellow of three -fourths
that length.

The work of fish culture with Dr.
Hitchcock is purely a labor of love;
but he has amply demonstrated the
possibility of turning our mountain
streams into profitable and health-giv-
ing food.

A BAD FISH LAW.

The law passed last winter to prevent
the destruction of fish is working a
great hardship in this county. The ex-
pense incurred under it already is in
round numbers $1,000, and that is the
sum total accomplished by it. The law
provides that one-third of the revenue
derived from fines shall cro +o the infor-

mer, one-third to the Prosecuting Attor-
ney, and one-third to the School Fund.
When the Chinamen are arrested, the
company bring over a prominent law-
yer, and bully the authorities by saying
that they "will not pay one cent of the
fine; the men may stay in jail, at the
expense the county; they will appeal,"
etc. Onerous fees are incurred by each
arrest. Under this state of things, the
Board of Supervisors appeared before
Justice Hughes last week, and prevailed
on him to inflict the minimum sentence
— one hour's imprisonment — on a party
of eight Chinamen who had pleaded
guilty to fishing with stakes. And in
these cases the District Attorney agreed
not to claim his fees. It is suggested
that a good way to beat these flippant
evaders of the law would be to arrest
every man connected with the fishery,
and if they did not pay their fine let
them remain in jail, feeding them only
bread and water. This would be good,
if the fees did not bankrupt the county,
but they probably would. The law will
no doubt be repealed by the next Leg-
islature; but in the meantime the tax-
payers are likely to be bled to an appal-
ing extent to pay the fees incurred by
prosecutions. New applications for
warrants are already before the Justice,
if indeed they have not now been issued.
— San Rafael Journal.

Intelligence of a Trout. — That fish
possess intelligence is beyond doubt, as
the well known fact of carp coming at
a given signal to be fed proves. The
following anecdote of a trout, given in
the Field, a Chicago paper, is worth
relating: Its place of abode was under
a stone in a small pool, immediately be-
low a wooden bridge, over which the
path led from the house in which we
reside to the garden. It was a pleasing
amusement for the boys to feed the

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

279

trout with worms, which were readily
procured in the garden; and the trout
was fed accordingly, and soon learned
to come out from below the stone and
seize the worm thrown into the pool,
whatever number of spectators might
be close at hand on the bridge, and al-
though some of them might be a little
noisy. But it was thought proper to
try a trick upon the poor fish, and pre-
sent him with a very small, long radish
instead of a worm. Out came the
trout at once, the radish in shape and
color being quite like a worm, and
caught it ere it reached the bottom, and
quickly spat it out again, and retreated
to the shelter of the stone. Once or
twice afterward, the trick was success-
fully repeated, but the trout soon
learned to distinguish a radish from a
worm, and ceased to come out for one,
although prompt enough in coming for
the other.

Quails for Italy. — Signor Felippe
Piazza, Consular Agent for Italy, who
resides at San Diego, passed through
Washington a few days ago, en route
for Rome. He revisits his native home,
and improves the opportunity by taking
with him a collection of quails from
the Pacific Coast, which he will present
to some Acclimatization Society in Italy.
He hopes to create a demand for them,
and to stock Italy's mountain valleys
with these choice birds. He has cages
of three varieties — the common Califor-
nia quail, Mountain quail, and Arizona
quail. Signor Piazza will also talk to
his countrymen about the wonderful
fertility and productions of California.
His experience in the State renders him
competent to do this to our advantage.
He has been engaged in silk culture, as
well as other agricultural pursuits, in
Southern California, which is the
'■Promised Land" of the mvdberry.

California Quails as Domestic Fowls.
— Mr. James Littlehale has for a year
or two been raising quails in a very suc-
cessful way. He recently set fifty quail
eggs under a hen, and three days since,
thirty-eight of the liveliest bumblebees
ever seen were hatched out. They
seem to take particular delight in their
big mother, gathering around her con-
stantly, obeying her call and taking the
food she scratches for them, while she
is the proudest old hen that ever laid
an egg or raised a family. Mr. Little-
hale has, besides, thirty or forty grown
quails that keep the family in eggs,
which, although small, he asserts to be
of finer and richer flavor than any other
he ever ate. The quails are of two
species, the mountain quails, brown,
with white and black spots, and the
valley quails, bluish slate color, with
black tufts on head, breast and wings.
— Stockton Independent.

Gordon Setters. — Mr. Harry Bab-
cock of San Francisco, Cal., has pur-
chased a splendid brace of black and
tan Gordon setters. One of the brace
is Monarch, a prize winner at the last
Springfield Bench Show. The other,
Rake, is an extra fine young dog.
These dogs are now on the route to San
Francisco, and will doubtless prove an
acquisition to the fine stock of the
State.

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF BULBS.

. As soon as their beauty of flower is
over, we always cut off the flower-stems
just below the lowest flower, and for
this reason: — The hyacinth and the
tulip both seed freely, particularly the
latter; if the bulb is forming seed, its
strength is wasted in a great measure
by that process; w!-.erea°, if the flower-

280

THE CALIFORNIA HOETICULTTJEIST.

stem is cut off, the bulb has nothing to
do but prepare itself with the vigor for
blossoming in the ensuing year. We
pay great attention to the protection of
the leaves of both hyacinths and tulips,
and never allow them to be interfered
with until nature indicates, by the de-
cay of their points, that the bulb is
preparing for rest. We then follow a
course with both hyacinths and tulips
which we believe many do not; that is,
we take them up before the leaves are
quite decayed, and for this reason —
we believe that both of them, after the
bulbs have attained this period of
growth, are only weakened by remain-
ing in the ground, because the offsets
are living upon the parent bulb, and
consequently weakening it for the flower
of the following year. If a cultivator
wishes for stock, he should let his bulbs
remain until the leaves are quite de-
cayed. If he wants his bulbs to flower
in beauty again, he should follow the
practice above mentioned.

When taken up the bulbs should be
removed to a shed sheltered from the
sun, but free to the air, and any earth
adhering to the fibres or roots should
remain for some time; after two or three
days they should be looked after, and
the loose earth shaken from them ; and,
as the leaves decay, they should be
occasionally removed. We have gen-
erally placed our bulbs at first on the
ground, in the tool shed, and as they
got dry removed them to an airy shelf.
When the leaves are nearly decayed, we
place them in very shallow baskets, and
allow as much air as practicable to be
between each root to harden them, turn-
ing them every two or three days. By
this treatment, and rubbing off any
portion of mould attached to the bot-
tom and sides, they are in a fit state to
be placed for the summer in a dry
room; and, by a little occasional atten-

tion, the rough and the outside coat
will, by a gentle side-pressure of the
thumb, be effectually removed, and ex-
hibit the appearance of the bulb clean,
smooth, and in good condition. This
operation is best performed in the end
of August; and at that time remove the
remains of such parts of the root of the
former year as .may not have dropped
off previously to this time. It
is hardly necessary to state that any
bulb in an unsound state, either from
appearance or decay, or from having
been injured in taking up, should not
be put with those intended for future
planting. — The Garden.

E. B. BLOWEB'S BAISIN-MAKING.

We recently spent an hour at the
home of Mr. R. B. Blowers, of Wood-
land, Yolo County, and secured from
him much information concerning the
grape and raisin business. Mr. Blow-
ers is not so extensive as he is thorough
in his work. He has spent time, labor,
and means in his work, and has been
abundantly rewarded for his expendi-
ture. He stands the equal, if not the
superior, of any man in the United States
in producing raisins, and it has been
decided that his raisins are superior to
any in the Eastern market, or we might
say, in the world. He recognizes but
one variety of grape — the Muscatel — as
pre-eminently a raisin-grape. Of this
variety he has about 25 acres, and about
two acres in other choice varieties to the
number of 25.

There is method in all he undertakes,
and he first studies the art of produc-
tion. He prunes his vines tolerably
early, and believes in systematic irriga-,
tion. Not content with the liberal sup-
ply of water which nature gives during
the winter, he taps the canal, fills the
ground full of water, and then again

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

281

after the rains, on or about the first of
June. This water serves two purposes.
It destroys the insects that infest the
soil, and adds at least one-third to the
production, both in quantity and qual-
ity. This he did last winter, and the
masses of bunches and clusters which
weigh down the vines at this time evince
the wisdom of this work. His vines
promise a yield at least one-third great-
er than ever. — Yolo Mail.

HOCK WINES.

The term Hock, by which all Rhen-
ish wine is designated in England, is
derived from Hockheim, near Castel ;
but the district that produces the choic-
est wines lies between Bieberich and
Asmannshausen, extending northward
as far as the Rauenthal, close to Schlan-
genbad. Here is the Johannisberg,
with its famous cellars, where you may
drink wine at eighteen and more florins
a bottle ; more inland the Steinberg,
whose vineyards bear the appropriate
designations of "Golden Cup" and
" Rosegarden," and where the vine
was first cultivated about 1177 by the
monks of the adjoining monastery of
Eberbach, a stately building, but sel-
<dom visited by the tourist, though the
lover of choice wines ought instinctive-
ly to be drawn to it; for here in its
vaults are the " Cabinet " cellars, where
specimens of the best vintages since the
year 1706 are stored up in mighty casks,
each cask furnished with a bright brass
tap. Double walls and shady groves
inclose the Cabinet cellars, and their
treasures of Rudesheimer, Hock, Hat-
tenheimer, Liebfrauenmilch — what a
poetic name for wine, and especially
Rhenish wine, which is indeed milk for
the aged — Marcobrunner and Stein-
berger. The ancient monks were great
lovers of good wine, and also good

Vol. VI.— 19.

judges, and it is upon the monks of
Eberbach that the time-honored anec-
dote of the key with its leather label,
which gave to the wine the twang of
iron and leather, is rightly fathered.
The aucient refectorium of the monas-
tery also deserves attention. Since the
year 1617 the recesses between the
fourteen columns with exquisite capi-
tals, which support the roof, and which
anciently contained altars dedicated to
various saints, were turned into recep-
tacles for wine presses; and where once
the hideous representation of the myth-
ical blood of some fabulous martyr was
worshiped, we may now behold and
taste the golden drops of the real lach-
rymse Christi. To the north of the
Steinberg is the Rauenthal, producing
a wine which excels even the famous
Johannisberger. At the Congress of
Princes, held at Frankfort in 1863,
Rauenthal wine at eighteen florins the
bottle was served; and when the corks
were withdrawn its fragrance filled the
lofty hall of the Romer. Either by a
dispute about tithes, or in consequence
of the French invasion, the gathering
of the grapes in the Johannisberg vine-
yards was deferred in the year 1811
until the grapes had apparently been
almost destroyed ,by frost and wet.
But Messrs. Mumm, the wholesale
wine merchants of Frankfort-on-the-
Main, purchased from Marshal. Keller-
mann — on whom Napoleon I. had be-
stowed the beautiful domain of Johan-
nisberg— the vintage which had already
been given up as lost; and the " edel-
faulen " grapes of that vintage laid the
foundation of the great wealth and
flourishing businefis of the firm Mumm.
For it was found that the frost elimi-
nates the watery particles of the grapes,
leaving behind the saccharine and al-
cohol, whereby what is lost in quantity
is made up two or threefold in quality.

282

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTURIST.

The vintage along the whole Rhine
commences at some time between the
beginning of October and the end of
November. The opening as well as
the closing days are fixed and publicly
announced by the local authorities, in
conjunction with the large proprietors
of vineyards. On the left bank of the
Rhine the signal for commencing and
ending the day's labor is given by the
firing of guns; on the right, by ringing
the church bells. Of the ancient vint-
ners' festival — at which a young peas-
ant, astride on a cask, represented
Bacchus, and was surrounded by vil-
lage maidens dressed as Bacchantes —
only the memory remains ; modern re-
finement improves all the poetry off the
face of the earth. The Rhineland has
in these later days been rather fortu-
nate in its vintages: those of 1857,
1858, 1859, 1861, 1862, 1865, etc.,
yielded such exquisite wines that the
connoisseurs were fairly puzzled to
which to award the palm. In former
centuries a good vintage was reckoned
on only once in eleven years; the great-
er success which now attends the efforts
of the vine grower may therefore fairly
be attributed to improved methods of
cultivation. — London Society.

GEAPES AS FOOD.

We have on former occasions refer-
red to the value of fruits as articles of
diet, both in health and in sickness.
Grapes may deservedly claim a high
rank among the fruits in this respect.
They contain a considerable amount of
hydro- carbonaceous matter, together
with potassium salts — a combination
which does not tend to irritate, but, on
the contrary, to soothe the stomach,
and which is consequently used with
advantage even in dyspepsia. Accord-
ing to Doctor Hartsen, of Cannes, in

France, who has recently contributed
an article on the subject to a foreign
medical journal, the organic acids in
the grape, especially tartaric acid, de-
serve more consideration than they
have generally received. Their nutri-
tive value has, he thinks, been much
underrated. It is known that they are
changed to carbonic acid in the blood,
and possibly careful research may show
that they are convertible into fats. Dr.
Hartsen thinks that they should be
ranked with the carbo-hydrates as food.
They have been found a valuable diet
in fever, and the success of the "grape-
cures " in the Tyrol and other parts of
Europe appears to show that they are
positively beneficial in other diseases.
No doubt the good results of a resi-
dence at these establishments are in a
measure to be ascribed to the climate
and the general hygienic discipline
adopted. The advantage does not
wholly consist in the fact that so many
pounds of grapes are eaten daily, but
partly in the fact that other less health-
ful things are not eaten ; and pure air
and exercise are also important ele-
ments in the curative treatment. But
after giving all due weight to these al-
lied influences we must allow no small
fraction of the beneficial result to the
medicinal properties inherent in the
grape itself.

We rejoice, therefore, at the increas-
ed cultivation of the vine in this coun-
try, and hope to see it go on extending
wherever soil and climate permit. Let
every man who can do it plant a cen-
tennial grape-vine, or a score of vines,
beside the " centennial tree " which the
papers have been advising him to set
out. He can eat the fruit of the form-
er sooner than he can sit under the
shade of the latter, and his children
will bless his memory for both. — Bos-
ton Journal of Chemistry.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

283

TREE -PLANTING.

The question of forest culture is
attracting attention in the Eastern
States, and Massachusetts has inaugur-
ated a movement for the encouragment
of tree-planting. This was brought
about by the publication of a paper by
Professor C. S. Sargent, director of the
Botanic Garden and Arnold Arboretum
of Harvard Universit}', in the report of
the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture
for 1875. The paper advocated the
cultivation of forest trees on poor and
worn out lands in the State. It has
been reprinted, accompanied by direc-
tions for the management of seedling
trees, by the Massachusetts Society for
Promoting Agriculture, and is distribu-
ted gratuitously. Prizes are offered on
the following scale : For the best plan-
tation of five acres, set with larch, or
Scotch or Corsican pine, $1,000, each
acre not to contain fewer than 2,700
trees; for the second best plantation of
the same, $600; and $400 for the third
best. Six hundred dollars is offered
for the best five-acre plantation of white
ash, not less than 5,000 trees to each
acre; the second best plantation of the
same is to have an award of $400. The
prizes will be awarded in the summer of
1877. The plantations will return their
owners a handsome profit, while value-
less land will be turned to account.
Generally throughout the United States
more trees have been planted this sea-
son than in any former year. Centen-
nial shade-trees, Centennial oaks and
elms, Centennial orchards, and even
Centennial woods, have been in favor.
It is said that Michigan has set out
1,000,000 trees this season. The state-
ment may be an exaggeration, but many
millions have been planted throughout
the States. Congress is endeavoring to
stop the wholesale destruction of virgin

forests, and Secretary Robeson, of the
United States navy, has drawn attention
to the value of live-oak for ship building,
explaining that it is the best timber for
that purpose in the world. Mr. Robe-
son points to the rapid deterioration of
vessels built of any other kind of tim-
ber as a proof of the necessity for con-
serving oak trees, along the coast line
at least. The rapid disappearance of
our great Western forests must result
in producing serious climatic changes
unless timely precaution be taken to
plant timber on a large scale.

TUBEROSES.

To make them grow is easy enough;
but to make them blos<om to the top of
the spikes is another affair. The first
requisite is sound, healthy tubers; the
others are rich soil, abundant heat for
the roots, and plentiful watering.

In selecting the tubers take such as
are bright, large and solid, with no
old dried root at the bottom. Exam-
ine carefully the crown ; if it is black in
the centre the flower germ is dead, and
it will produce nothing but leaves.
Pick off all offsets ; they weaken the
plant.

In potting it is the common practice
to use five-inch pots, but Rand recom-
mends seven-inch, an d» cites Buswell to
sustain the recommendation. Two
inches or more of well-rotted cow ma-
nure should be placed in the bottom of
each pot, then fill to the top with soil
composed of light loam, sand and old
manure. The addition of a little pul-
verized charcoal is an improvement.
Having filled the pot insert the tuber
just deep enough to cover all but the
tip of the crown. Then shake the pot
gently to settle the contents.

If one has an active hot-bed the pots
may be plunged in it to their rims and

284

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUBIST.

covered with tan; but in the absence of
such convenience, a box of fresh stable
manure in a barn or other out-building
will furnish the necessary heat to start
the roots growing. The writer has had
satisfactory success in starting tuberoses
by burying the pots in a heap of fer-
menting hops from the brewery. In a
week to two weeks, according to the
heat, the green shoots will appear;
then give more light, air and water. If
the pots are in a hot-bed, it is better to
let them remain until the buds begin to
appear on the flower spike. Then re-
move them to the piazza, lawn or gar-
den bed. In the latter situation the
pots may be plunged to the rim, or if
it is not later than July, they may be
turned out into the soil. They should
be given a warm sunny situation; the
hotter the better. The late blooming
plants may stand out until the approach
of frosty nights, when they must be
brought in-doors. A warm, dry green-
house is the most congenial place, but
with careful attention they can be made
to bloom in a warm parlor, until late in
autumn. The usual time from plant-
ing the dry tuber until the flower
spikes are in full bloom, is about sixteen
weeks. This varies with the amount of
heat.

Water plentifully. From the first
appearance of <• growth until the last
bud expands they should never be suf-
fered to flag for want of water. A sin-
gle neglect in this direction after the
flowers have begun to open, may cause
the loss of all the expanded buds.

The same tuber never produces flow-
ers but once, and is then worthless.
But a mass of bullets will be found
clinging around the base. If these are
removed, kept in a warm, dry place
during winter, and planted out in warm
and rich soil in summer, they will be-
come blooming tubers the third year.

A box of dry sand in a warm closet is
the best place for wintering. They
should never be exposed for any length
of time to a temperature lower than
fifty degrees Fahr. , nor planted out in
a climate like that of this State earlier
than the first of June. A very slight
chill will blast the flower germ in the
centre of each tuber, and then although
it may look fair on the outside it will
produce foliage and nothing more. —
Country Gentleman.

ALMOND CULTUKE IN SANTA CLARA
COUNTY.

In the southwestern portion of this
valley there are several quite extensive
orchards of the almond tree, which, so
far as I have observed, are doing very
well. Of these, the orchard on the
Spring Brook Banch, near Los G-atos, is
the most prominent as to the size, loca-
tion and thorough culture, as far as my
observation has extended.

While driving in this neighborhood
last week I was so attracted by the
beautiful dark green appearance of this
plantation, the uniform size of the trees
in their straight rows, and the general
neatness of the whole place as seen
from the road, that I opened the big
gate and drove down the avenue through
the orchard to the dwelling house,
which is pleasantly located about half a
mile from the road at the foot of
the hills, and near the fine springs
that have suggested the name of the
ranch. Here under the shade of some
fine trees in the yard I had the pleasure
of meeting the proprietors of the prop-
erty, Messrs. Gardner & NefF, of Placer
county, from whom I received the fol-
lowing information in regard to their
Almond enterprise.

The orchard, which is of the Langue-
doc variety of Almond, covers an area

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

285

of one hundred acres, and numbers
20,000 trees. Although only two years
old from the nursery last winter, they
are so large and well grown as might
well surprise any one that might see
them, not acquainted with the wonder-
ful productiveness of our climate and
our soil. The whole plantation is on
gravelly, though level foothill land, and
the cultivation has been thorough, not
a weed or blade of grass could be seen
from the drive. Mr. Neff informed me
that they have their men go through the
whole plantation s"ix times a year with
the most approved tools for cultivation.
By this frequent disturbance of the
soil moisture is retained near the sur-
face of the land the whole summer
through.

It would seem that a few more years
will settle the question as to whether
Almond culture can be made profitable
in this portion of the valley, if indeed
there remains any question on the sub-
ject. Everything so far looks favorable
for the best results. The trees are
healthy and grow remarkably well
under good cultivation without irriga-
tion, and come into bearing very early,
as may be seen by many of these young
trees. The proprietors estimate the
crop of nuts this year at 10,000 pounds
— pretty good for trees less than three
years old from the nursery. The only
drawback to realizing large crops every
year is late spring frosts, but in this lo-
cality the probabilities are that no seri-
ous trouble will come from this source.
There are several other Almond and
Walnut orchards, in this neighborhood,
which I wish to notice in some future
letter. — G. W. M. in Rural Press.

The largest Banana plantation in the
United States is near Silver Lake, Flor-
da, having 10,000 bearing plants.

CALIFORNIA FRUIT IN EASTERN MAR-
KETS.

A new branch of trade is likely to
attend the display of California won-
ders at the Exhibition. The markets of
San Francisco and Sacramento are con-
stantly glutted, and the fruit-growers
determined, while arranging for their
Centennial display, to find outlet in
Eastern markets. They sent Mr. Earle
to this city to investigate and report
upon the feasibility of such an under-
taking. Mr. Earle found retailers charg-
ing $1.50 a pound for hot-house Grapes,
and that a good field was opened,
which, like the banana trade, would it-
self create a demand. The preserva-
tion of the fruit is no longer an obstruc-
tion to the accomplishment of their
project, as refrigerators have by recent
inventions been brought to such perfec-
tion that Grapes can be brought here
in ten days with the bloom still upon
them and sold by the retailer profitably
at the rate of twenty cents a pound,
quite a reduction from the charges for
hot-house Grapes. All fruit is sold in
California by weight. Plums, Apricots,
and Grapes will be first sent to Philadel-
phia— Grapes with which those of Al-
meria or Malaga can hardly compare.
They will be sent in refrigerator cars
that are guaranteed to keep them in
perfect condition for a month, and as
an evidence of the earnestness of this
project one of our transportation com-
panies is reported to be building one
hundred refrigerator cars for the Cali-
fornia trade. In two years it is pre-
sumed that the California fruit trade
will form an important business interest
in Philadelphia, and arrangements have
been made by which regular shipments
will commence next spring. The firm
interested in this venture has secured
a building on Delaware Avenue, the

286

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

lower portion of "which they propose to
transfer into a refrigerator, and expect
not only to keep large supplies of Cali-
fornia fruits, but Bananas, Pine-apples,
etc. A car-load of California Pears is
to be sent through in September, and
within two weeks a car-load of Grapes
will arrive, which will effectually settle
the question of the practicability of the
enterprise. So confident are the pro-
jectors of their success that within two
years it is heralded that fruit trains will
leave the Pacific Coast daily for the
East, and that in another year two or
three trains of twenty-five cars each will
leave every week. Peaches have been
already brought here from Califor-
nia, and sold at $10 a case, which con-
tains about 200 peaches. The trade is
likely to commence in earnest next year
with a shipment of Apricpts and Peaches
about the middle of June. Early vari-
eties of Plums and Peaches will follow,
and about the first of July the shipment
of Bartlett Pears will likely commence.
By the 1st of August it is expected to
send Grapes here, such as have never
been seen in these markets, in clusters
weighing from six to eight pounds.
Almonds and raisins, upon which large
duties for importation are paid, can be
furnished from California at less prices
than Malaga and Almeria fruit are sold.
The results of experiments thus far
madle satisfy the fruit-growers that in
a short time the demand in the East for
California fruit will be very great. —
Philadelphia Press.

GLADIOLI- SUGGESTIONS.

Gladioli do not need to be staked, ex-
cept to support them in case of excep-
tionally high winds. Especially is this
true where they are planted as closely
together as they may be without detri-
ment. The leaves of the Gladiolus are

not very ornamental — the only word
that can justly be spoken against this
splendid flower; but where each plant
is tied to a stick, its appearance is still
further marred. Not at least is it neces-
sary to support them until the buds
begin to break. Then a light, unpaint-
ed stick — almost a switch indeed, if it
can be stuck in the ground without
breaking — suffices. Garden stakes in
common use are much larger than neces-
sary. We do not know that, until we
have tried it, how slight a support will
hold plants during the windsof summer.
The bulbs are not, as a rule, planted
deeply enough, though this must, of
course, be varied to suit the soil. For
large bulbs in sandy soil, six inches are
not too deep. This secures moisture
to the bulbs during droughts, and serves
the additional purpose of supporting
the stem. If our readers have not
planted their bulbs deeply enough, soil
may be thrown upon the surface where
they are massed, thus producing the
same effect.

Where droughts prevail, drenching
the beds with water and covering with
grass will improve the flowers and pro-
long the flowering period, though where
they are growing in full sunshine, such
heat as has prevailed for two weeks past,
whether the ground has been moist or
dry, will scorch the buds or wither the
petals in a day. Yet we have never
found that the Gladiolus thrives best in
the shade or partial shade. The finest
displays we have ever seen were upon
rich sandy soil in full sunshine. The
leaves and corms will stand both sun
and drought — it is the flowers alone that
suffer.

WTe remind our readers that now is
the time to mark flowers for seed, or to
cross selected flowers with a view of
producing finer strains and more pleas-
ing colors and markings.

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287

TREES.

The prevalence of an epidemic in our
city should cause every citizen to avail
himself of every sanitary measure that
may contribute to the welfare of his
household. An abundant growth of
trees is one of the most powerful pro-
moters of health yet discovered. It has
been asserted that the death-rate is
wonderfully decreased in large cities
wrhere they have been profusely planted.
Since the re-creation of Paris its death-
rate has fallen from one in thirty-four
to one in thirty-nine. This is attributed
to the immense number of parks in
which it rejoices, as well as to its boule-
vards, thickly planted with trees. The
gases which the human system rejects
are eagerly absorbed by these purifiers,
which, in turn, gratefully give forth the
oxygen which is the life principle of the
human lung. Almost every home in
the city is provided with a little square
yard, back or front, in which should
flourish either trees or those vines and
plants especially adapted to the absorp-
tion of malarial gases. All that low
land once known as Happy Valley,
together with the flat region around
Mission Bay, is calculated by its nature
to produce malarial fever — that insidi-
ious enemy which slowly and insinuat-
ingly saps the life and energy. The
streets in this portion of the city extend
along blocks, and blocks of hard plank
pavement, unsheltered ana unsightly.
The contents of the gutters, subject to
the full action of the sun, give forth
odors unwholesome and unpleasant. If
every householder would plant but a
half-dozen trees, or even less, we should
have long avenues, beautiful, healthy
and comfortable. Telegraph Hill, with
its bleak, scarred side, is a sorry sight
for a stranger to behold upon first en-
tering our city ; but might easily become

a beautiful mass of waving, living
green. Trees, in this climate, grow
swiftly and thriftily. They are cheap
enough to be obtainable by the poorest,
and the labor of putting them in the
soil is certainly not great. The idle and
the careless may be unmoved by any
desire to beautify their city or to make
it comfortable with shelter, but the
fact that trees will affect the mortality
of the people should move them to a
serious consideration of the matter. —
Alta.

THE BLACKBERRY.

The blackberry requires nearly the
same treatment as the raspberry; but
being a more rampant grower, it should
have more room, and needs more prun-
ing and pinching. The distances of the
rows may be six to eight feet apart, and
the plants, if kept single, two feet in
the row. Sometimes they are allowed
to grow thickly or in a continuous line,
in which case they should be kept well
cultivated and properly pruned. Con-
stant cultivation is always better than
much manuring.

Pruning the blackberry is commonly
but little understood. We hear com-
plaints of the rambling and straggling
growth of this bush, extending across
alleys, tearing dresses, at the same time
proving unproductive. This is owing
to a neglect of summer pruning. As
soon as the new shoots have reached
two and a half or three feet in height,
the ends should be pinched off with
the thumb and finger, which will cause
the protrusion of the laterals. These
in turn are to be pinched off when they
have grown from twelve to eighteen
inches. It will be necessary to pass
along the rows every two weeks in doing
this work, as new shoots will be con-
stantly thrown out during the entire

288

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

summer. The plants being thus kept
within bounds will present neat, com-
pact, and productive bushes, instead of
the unproductive stragglers as if left
untouched.

Kittatinny — Large, sometimes an inch
and a half long, oblong, ovate, glossy-
black; flesh moderately firm, nearly
sweet, rich, excellent. Canes very vig-
orous, quite hardy, very productive, rip-
ening at the north early in August.
The best family blackberry. The ber-
ries become duller after picking and
less showy in the market. — Thomas'
American Fruit Gulturist.

(HDfltWimtttfjeiwe.

ASCENT OF GEEY'SPEAK IN COLOKADO.

Ed. Horticulturist: — '■' Once upon a
time " — and that, too, when the beauty
and resources of Colorado had hardly
gained their subsequent appreciation
and sympathy, which were destined to
create an enthusiasm unequaled by any
country in the world — it being the fash-
ion to climb Grey's Peak, every one
who could do so had made the trip, and
those who did not had been set down at
once as unfashionable. So, to avoid
that terrible calamity, we concluded to
go and scale the height.

At five o'clock p. m., five of us start-
ed on horseback, Charlie Utter, the
guide, leading the way, dressed in his
appropriate suit of beaded buckskin,
having more the appearance of a young
poet, with his handsome face, big blue
eyes, and long auburn curls, than the
noted trapper and guide of the West,
and the favorite of the tourist. Having
had a lovely day up to the hour of our
departure, our spirits were suddenly
dampened by finding the sky overcast,
•with the appearances of a shower in
prospective. However, we were not to
be disheartened by a sprinkling of rain,

and by the time we had reached the
"Crow's Nest," a large brick building
situated on a rocky bluff overlooking
the town, the shower had passed en-
tirely away, leaving nothing as a re-
minder save the purified air and the
glittering rain drops resting on every
leaf and twig. The sun was again shin-
ing in all its wonted radiance, warming
up the atmosphere, and lighting up the
whole valley as far as the eye could
reach with almost indescribable beauty.

Our route, which lay along the beau-
tiful valley between Georgetown and
Bakersville, is grand and picturesque
in the extreme. As we rode leisurely
along, enjoying ourselves to the ut-
most, the sky, gradually donning her
evening mantle of crimson and gold,
displayed one of the most gorgeous-
hued sunsets I ever beheld. We had
not long, however, to enjoy the con-
templation of nature in the twilight,
for, their being no moon till near mid-
night, we were after a short time left in
almost total darkness.

Jogging patiently along, after a some-
what wearisome ride of four hours we
reached the " Kelso House," at the
foot of the range, where we lost no
time in refreshing ourselves with an ex-
cellent supper, and after desiring our
landlady to awaken us at two p. m. , we
retired to our several rooms and neces-
sary repose, preparatory to our morning
climb. The allotted time expired all too
soon, and, at three o'clock we were
ready to start, making an imposing ap-
pearance, having overtaken a number
of gentlemen out in pursuit of pleasure
who gladly joined our party. The late
rising moon was now pouring her soft
silvery rays over the sleeping world,
the numerous patches of snow scatter-
ed over the surrounding mountains
glistening and sparkling like giant
pearls in the crown of night. As we

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289

were climbing upward, the light, fleecy
clouds scurrying across the sky over-
head, the continually changing posi-
tion of objects and outline, prevented
anything like monotony from marring
the beauty of the scene. We reached
the top about ten minutes before sun-
rise. Our guide, thoughtful as well as
handsome, brought out from some un-
suspected quarter, a huge bundle of
fire-wood, a commodity we had already
begun to feel the need of, and a hamper
of refreshments, very grateful to us aft-
er our brisk ride in the keen morning
air. The reddening horizon signaled
the coming of the god of day ; the tops
of the higher mountains were thrown
into bright relief in the morning light,
that only deepened the darkness and
gloom in the gorges and valleys below,
rendering them almost frightful in their
great depths and distance from the diz-
zy heights on which we were standing.
The sky, becoming gradually a deeper
and more vivid crimson, threw the
heights into still greater relief, and
Grey's Peak, being the centre of this
giant circle of Nature's antemural senti-
nels, stood out yet more boldly against
the Western sky. Then, as the sun
rose higher in the heavens, the hazy
and indistinct atmosphere yielded at
last to the fervent rays, and a flood of
brilliant sunshine illumined the whole
scene. Words are inadequate to de-
scribe the enchanting loveliness of such
a view, which could not fail to impress
all with a sense of man's insignificance.
Colorado has been rightly named, by
those who know and love her best, the
"Switzerland of America." No matter
where you go, you will find but one
Colorado and but one Grey's Peak. In
no other country will be found the
same combination of the elements of
beauty as here, where Nature, in wild-
est flights of sublimity and grandeur,

presents a picture of bewildering beau-
ty and proportion. The warm hazy at-
mosphere and golden skies of Italy, the
rugged grandeur of the snow-clad Alps,
and the fertile valleys of the New World
are all represented here in a panoramic
immensity of space. We advise all
true lovers of Nature to improve their
first opportunity of witnessing from the
summit of Grey's Peak a sunrise among
the mountains. After taking a last
long look we reluctantly turned away
with a sigh of regret, and sadly began
our journey home, each busy with his
own thoughts, and each one resolved
to repeat the pleasant experiences.

George Emmet.

OUR FRONTISPIECE.

Chinese Primrose (primula sinensis),
a green-house flowering plant, which
thrives admirably well everywhere on
this coast. As a window plant it has
no superior, and produces its bright
charming flowers all the year around.
The newer varieties produced of late in
European nurseries are very much inir
proved in color, size, and form, and are
considered indispensable. No plant re-
quires less attention, and but few will
give more satisfaction to the amateur.

There are also the double varieties of
the Chinese Primrose, which are the
most elegant of the class. They are,
however, quite rare here as yet, and
considerable difficulty is experienced in
their propagation. However small a
space of room you may have for house
plants, be sure and grow one or two of
the Chinese Primroses.

CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES.

Our warm friend, Agapius Honcha-
renko, of Ukraina, in Alameda County,

290

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

has sent us a monster Squash, measur-
ing 56 inches in circumference, and
weighing 50 lbs. ; a gigantic Sunflower,
44 inches in circumference, making a
spread that would answer well for an
umbrella; some Berkshire Challenge
Cucumbers, of delicious flavor, and
which have gained many prizes in En-
gland; a lot of General Grant Toma-
toes, and some of the finest sugar table
Corn and Nutmeg Melons we have ever
tasted. Mr. Honcharenko's place is lo-
cated in the high foot-hills, and on ac-
count of the moisture his land receives
from the summer fogs of the Pacific
Ocean, irrigation is not necessary, as is
proved by these luscious mammoth veg-
etables, which did not receive a drop of
water other than the dew from heaven.

CATALOGUES RECEIVED.

" Descriptive Catalogue of Fruits,
and Abridged List of Plants, including
Green-house, Hot-house and Bedding
Plants. No. 1." From Ellwanger &
Barry, Mt. Hope Nurseries, Rochester,
N. Y. The eminence and correctness
of this popular and long established
firm is so well and broadly known that
comment beyond this from us is unne-
cessary.

" Annual Descriptive Catalogue of
Bulbs and other Flowering roots, with
Directions for their Management."
From J. M. Thornburn.& Co., John
St., N. Y. This also is one of our old-
est firms in the above line, and needs
but little commendation from us.

"Wholesale Price List of Grape-
vines, Fruit Trees, etc." From T. S.
Hubbard, Fredonia, N. Y. This cata-
logue is accompanied by very good tes-
timonials regarding his grape-vines,
small fruits, evergreens, etc.

" Retail List of New, Beautiful, and
Rare Plants." From William Bull,

King's Road, Chelsea, London, S. W.
This is very handsomely illustrated
with about one hundred splendid cuts
of trees, plants, and flowers from all
parts of the world.

FKUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEB.

In the two last papers on the above
subjects we referred to the successful
cultivation of the true English Goose-
berry, free from the mildew, both in
Napa Valley and in a certain locality
in this city. As this success is a mat-
ter of much importance in a fruit which
is both useful and delicious, we have
thought that a few more remarks on
its cultivation and management would
not be out of place here. First, we
will state that it is a practice too com-
mon in pruning Gooseberries to let
them branch out with great naked
stems, suffering them to remain in that
state for by too far long a period.
When that is already the case, they
should be cut down near to the ground
in about the beginning of December in
this climate, and this will make them
throw out strong healthy shoots which
will bear fruit the second year. Goose-
berry-bushes, in general, bear their
fruit on the second year's wood. Care
should be taken in.summer to keep the
middle of the bush clear, to admit a
free circulation of air into them ; leav-
ing the finest and strongest shoots from
four to eight inches distant from each
other. This will help to ripen and
harden the wood. It is a practice with
some to shorten the shoots in the fall
or winter pruning; this should be al-
ways near to a wood-bud, which may
be known by its being single, whereas
fruit-buds are in clusters. The shoots

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

291

may be shortened to eight or ten inch-
es, according to their strength. Some
leave them at full length for two or
three years, thinning out those that are
superfluous. Always leave a proper
number to be trained up between the
full length shoots, to succeed them
when they are tired of bearing; then
cut the old ones down to the young
ones that are to succeed them. By
these means you will always keep the
bushes in a constant state of bearing.
You may observe that those branches
which were cut the first year, will in
the second throw out short spurs, which
will produce the fruit ; and these by no
means should be cut off, unless the
branches are in a sickly state, and re-
quire to be cut close down when the
bushes are overloaded with fruit. It
will be necessary to cut out a good deal
of the old wood, to assist Nature to re-
cover herself after producing so great a
quantity of fruit as she sometimes does,
when the branches are bent down close
to the ground. In California this, it
is true, is not of so much importance as
in the East, on account of our long dry
spell in summer and part of the fall.
The above remarks will entirely apply
to the cultivation of our American na-
tive kind — the Houghton — and its vari-
eties, and the crosses between it and
the English sorts. Some attention also
might be well paid to the cultivation of
early and late kinds. It is a practice
with some to clip the tops of Gooseber-
ries with a pair of garden shears, as
they would clip an Osage Orange or
other hedge, but this we by no means
approve of, as the fruit will not be half
the size, nor of so fine a flavor, as when
the bushes are kept clear of superfluous
wood or branches close together. Care
should be taken in spring and summer
to stock or grub up all the suckers from
the roots of the bushes, leaving their

stems clear and unencumbered. It is
very well to support some of the long-
est outer branches with stakes, and so
tie their branches to them. Gooseber-
ries in this State are not yet infested by
any insects or caterpillars as they are
in England and in the Eastern States,
which there frequently devour both the
leaves and fruit. Gooseberries, espe-
cially the English, are well worth pay-
ing attention to, as they go some way
to supply the table till the later fruits
come in.

The Currant is another very useful
small fruit. Their pruning is very sim-
ilar to that of the Gooseberry. It may
be begun in the month of November or
December, and continue through our
winter. The sort best adapted to our
coast is the Cherry Currant, among
other good qualities it having large
size to recommend it. Currants should
never be left too full of wood ; and a
great deal depends upon their manage-
ment in summer, to have strong and
fine wood for the following season. If
they have been neglected for some time,
and suffered to run up to long naked
wood, they must be cut down near the
ground ; they will then set forth strong
shoots. In the winter pruning the fin-
est and strongest shoots must be pre-
served, leaving them from nine to eight-
een inches long, according to their
strength, and from eight to ten inches
apart, and as regular as possible from
top to bottom of the bush ; taking care
to cut out all dead and weak shoots.
The single stem or tree shape is not so
good for our climate as the bush form.
The bushes should be from three to
four feet high. Pay some attention in
summer, and keep the middle of the
bush somewhat open to admit th« air
and sun, preserving the strongest and
finest shoots that are nearest the stems
or base. Be particularly careful to

292

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

pull up all suckers at the roots of the
bushes, and keep them as clean as pos-
sible, otherwise the suckers will pre-
vent the sun and air from penetrating
to the roots, and greatly weaken the
bushes.

From inquiries of fruit growers and
dealers we find that from nearly all
parts of the fruit growing portions of
the State, especially Napa, Sonoma,
and other valleys, the crop is, doubt-
less, upon the whole, the largest ever
grown. The prices, as a consequence,
are small, and profits, in many cases,
nothing. If the production had been
only half, or less than half, it would be
more profitable to the cultivators. All
kinds of fruit are vastly abundant.
There was but little injury by frost, ex-
cept to a few vineyards in low or pecul-
iar localities. The remarkably parch-
ing weather in June injured somewhat
the Apple orchards, but not sufficiently
to lessen the crop perceptibly.

One fruit grower from Napa Valley
said " he would have been glad to have
disposed of his Peach crop at half a
cent a pound, but he preferred to feed
the fruit out to his live stock rather
than feed the commission merchants
with it." He also said, " There is no
money in raising Peaches at less than
three cents a pound. The expense of
gathering, boxing, shipping, and com-
mission is so great that they can not
profitably be sold for less."

The wine men talk rather discourag-
ingly of the Grape market. The crop
will be very large, and they say they
have no room for the wine, their cellars
being nearly full now. But it is to be
hoped, notwithstanding these facts,
that the Grape growers will find a bet-
ter market for their product than they
anticipate .

The yield of all fruits this season be-
ing so excessive, it is a wonder to us

that the general quality of them is as
good as it is.

The organization of the Fruit Grow-
ers' Association has been completed,
and the Company will soon file articles
of incorporation. A large amount of
the capital stock has already been sub-
scribed. The Association will be ready
to ship Grapes within a few weeks in
patent refrigerator cars. The officers
of the Grange organizations have been
assured by the railroad company that
the project which is of such importance
to the State will be favorably consider-
ed, and every possible concession made.
While the shipments of fruit were small
and irregular the eompany could not
afford to lower their freight. The As-
sociation will not be composed exclu-
sively of Grangers. All fruit-growers
are invited to become stockholders.
The fruit will be bought from the pro-
ducers, and shipped by the Association
for Eastern markets, where an active
demand for it exists. The principal
counties from which fruit will be sent
are Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, Sacramento,
San Joaquin, and Placer. The latter
county being remote from San Francis-
co, and directly on the line of the rail-
road, will be the heaviest shipper. In
the event of the almost certain failure
of the Grape -brandy bill before Con-
gress, the price of Grapes will be ruin-
ously low. As before stated, the wine-
cellars are full to overflowing, and their
contents can not be converted into
brandy under the present burdensome
tax. The Association hope to be able
to net $30 per ton for their Grapes.

The fruit stalls the last of August
were lavishly supplied with all season-
able varieties, and prices remained at a
very low level, especially, for unbroken
packages. Grapes were very plentiful,
and some of the varieties retailed as
follows : Sweetwater and Chasselas, 4c.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

293

to 6c. ; Rose of Peru, Black Hamburg,
and Black Malvoisie, 8c. to 10c. ; Mus-
cat, White, 10c. to 12c. per lb. Late
Peaches were coming forward freely,
and prices failed to improve. By the
basket the best sold at $1 to $1.50.
Apples were steady at $1 to $1.75, and
Pears at $1 to $2 per box. In vegeta-
bles there was no essential variation
from last week. The market was still
glutted with Melons, and the best sold
slowly at the quotations, though an ex-
tra fine lot of a light colored variety of
the Watermelon brought 50c. to 75c.
each. There was a better tone to the
Potato market, and prices remained
firm at $1.25 to $1.50 per 100 lbs., de-
livered.

About the Wines of California. —
Notwithstanding the drooping condi-
tion of our wine interests, some of those
who deal in and manufacture the article
are not wholly discouraged. We had
a conversation with Mr. Van Bever the
other day upon the subject, and found
him far from being depressed. Mr.
Van Bever tells us that he has now on
hand about 80,000 gallons of wine of
last year's vintage, which he is working
off. Prices he admits are very low, but
still he finds sales, and if the quality of
the wine is kept up to a good standard,
it will finally work its way into public
favor, both here and abroad, and we
will then have as much business as we
want. He especially deprecates, as do
all our first-class manufacturers, the
making and offering of inferior wines.
Far better make it into vinegar, or let
the hogs eat the grapes, than put upon
the market wines which will bring us
into bad repute. Mr. Van Bever has a
large claret trade, and will probably
work hereafter to make as much of that

wine as possible. To make a good ar-
ticle of claret we should have proper
grapes, which leads us to ask the ques-
tion, Why do our grape-growers hesi-
tate in regard to grafting their Mission
vines with the Zinfindel or other valu-
able foreign kinds ? But little is doing
in brandy manufacture, as the high
tariff renders the business unprofitable.
— Napa Reporter.

Prices of Grapes. — At the meeting of
the State Vinicultural Society, Sept.
2d, some statements were made re-
specting the price of grapes and some
reports of sales were made. At St.
Helena, a sale of foreign grapes (Tho-
mann's) had been effected at $20 a ton.
Some foreign grapes about Oakville had
been sold as low as $18 a ton. A sale
was reported in Napa, of Mission grapes
and others as they run, at $13, but
these figures, we are informed, are not
to be considered as a criterion, because
the grapes were General Miller's, who
is not supposed to be so dependent
upon his vineyard as most of the grape
growers, and is consequently less par-
ticular about the price. The purchaser
was Migliavacca. It was stated that
Groezinger would do little buying; but
has already engaged 160 tons at Oak-
ville ; no price named. In Sonoma
there was very little purchasing — the
prevailing price being $15 "all around,"
Mission and other varieties included. —
Napa Register, Aug. 29th.

The Orange Moth. — The Rockhampton
Bulletin, speaking of the prospects of
the orange crop, proposes a theory con-
cerning the operations of the orange
moth, which, whilst not at all unlikely,
will scarcely be endorsed by all the
orange growers of Rockhampton. Al-
ready the entomologists have crossed

294

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

swords on this subject and no one
seems as yet a bit the wiser for the con-
troversy. This moth, which it appears
is happily conspicuous by its absence in
many orchards, unfortunately abounds
in some, and wherever it is found, there
the oranges are to be seen lying on the
ground in dozens, pierced with minute
holes, supposed to be the work of these
pests. Of the three well-known vari-
eties— Ophideres fullonica, Materna, and
Solominia — two are common and the
latter is rare in Queensland. According
to the Bulletin the preponderating opin-
ion is that the moth is not the primary,
but the secondary cause of the destruc-
tion, a small insect being the first in-
vader of the fruit, and on this head,
the writer says: — "This insect, so it is
said, punctures the skin of the orange,
makes a bed inside, lays three eggs
which eventually produce maggots, and
thus makes room for the moth to enter
in and to complete the mischief com-
menced." The question is still open to
discussion, and doubtless by the aid of
science and accurate observation on the
part of orange growers, some definite
information on the subject will be forth-
coming.

The Action of Frost on Vegetable
Tissue. — The way in which frost acts
in destroying vegetable tissue, and con-
sequently vegetable life, is yet open to
discussion. When the liquid in the
structure freezes, it will of course fol-
low the law common in such cases and
expand, disrupting the tissues to the
destruction of life. The enigma with
most persons is how vegetable matter
can get through our winters after the
sap has been thoroughly frozen, in the
face of this law. But it is probable
that the sap does not freeze in these
cases. A Mr. Piffard publishes some
experiments in an English paper, made

with the juice of a cabbage leaf.
Some juice was mixed with water
and put in a bottle, and in another bot-
tle pure water. Both were exposed to
a very low temperature, and the cab-
bage water resisted congelation, while
the mere water froze. It thus appears
that plants resist frost through their
juices, and that the power of resistance
is a chemical act not a vital one merely ;
unless, indeed, life itself be but a mode
of chemical action.

Canning Fruit. — Probably no people
in the world have so much good fruit as
we. We have just now, within a few
miles of this place, hundreds of tons
of the finest peaches and plums, which,
we regret to say, hardly pay for picking
and hauling to market; pears are ripen-
ing and coming on in the same way,
and so of other varieties of fruit. This
great abundance stimulates our house-
wives to unusual efforts in putting up
fruits, jams and jellies for winter use.
In nearly every house the kettle is
steaming, and you see a formidable
array of cans, jars and glasses on the
shelves. The Cohansey fruit jar,
which is of glass, top and all, has been
introduced this year, and is already a
great favorite ; and there are other
packages of glass which command atten-
tion; and a great many, on account of
cheapness in first cost, still use the tin
cans and sealing wax. — Napa Reporter.

Tomato Vines. — A fruit-grower in
Valparaiso, South America, writes to
his local paper that he has discovered a
singular property in tomato leaves. > It
appears that having cut down some to-
mato vines, he used them as a "mulch"
around his peach trees. He soon dis-
covered that the curculio, which had
been destroying his fruit, had aban

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

295

doned the trees surrounded by tomato
vines. Following up this accidental
discovery, he found the free use of
tomato vines proved a perfect protection
not only against the curculio, but
against other noxious insects. He
found also that by steeping in water
some fresh leaves of the tomato, and
sprinkling the infusion upon other
plants, such as roses and orange trees,
the innumerable insects which covered
them were driven away. "We commend
this to our horticultural friends.

James Vick, in a number of his Floral
Guide, says about rust on celery: There
are two causes of rust. Celery likes a
cool, moist situation, and if a trifle
shaded, all the better. If it is planted
in an open situation exposed to the
sun, it sometimes burns, and this
causes rust. This, however, is not the
most frequent cause. Celery should
neither be hoed nor earthed up when
moistened with dew or rain, nor when
the ground is moist. It should be done
when air, and soil, and plant are dry,
otherwise rust is sure to be the result.
If the soil is permitted between the leaf
stalks or in the heart of the plant at
earthing up, rust or rot, or both, is the
compensation. This is one reason why
we dislike celery of a branching habit,
the work of earthing well is so difficult.
A dwarfish plant of straight, compact
growth, is altogether the safest and
best.

Ginseng Culture. — The Chinese have
long ascribed extraordinary virtues to
the root of Ginseng, it being consider-
ed almost a sovereign remedy for vari-
ous diseases. It is found growing wild
in the mountains of Chinese Tartary
from whence the Chinese formerly ob-
tained their Ginseng, but the constant

drain upon those regions has exhausted
the supply, and for many years Ameri-
ca has been the only country from
which this root could be procured, but
the wild plants are becoming scarce,
while the demand does not abate.
Here is a chance for our horticultur-
ists to introduce a new source of rev-
enue by cultivating this plant exten-
sively. It has been grown in botanic
gardens for the past century or more,
hence there can be no question about
its succeeding under cultivation.

How to Catch Hawks. — As the season
is approaching when hawks are most
destructive to young poultry, a method
of catching and killing these marauders
will be in order. It is a well known
fact that a hawk will always light on
some conspicuous place close to the
poultry yard, from which to swoop down
on his victims. Taking advantage of
this, erect a pole with a flat surface at
the top, just large enough to hold a
strong steel trap. Fasten this trap by
a chain to a staple in the pole, and
await results. No bait will be needed,
for the hawk will be quite certain to
light on the trap and be caught. A
gentleman who has tried this method
has succeeded in killing all the hawks
in his neighborhood, and now can raise
poultry without loss except by accident.

Raisin Culture. — R. H. Blowers fur-
nishes us with the following, which
gives some idea of the interest which is
being taken in the culture of the Raisin
Grape in California and in other parts
of the United States. He has made
during the season of 1875 and shipped
to market 1,500 boxes of twenty pounds
each, or 30,000 pounds. These raisins
were made from the Muscatel Grape,
which he cultivates to a standard of per-

296

THE CALIFOBNIA HORTICULTUKIST.

fection which could not be easily ex-
celled. He has been called on from far
and near for cuttings from his vineyard,
and has furnished to parties as follows:
To Yolo County, 55,000; Napa County,
5,500; Fresno County, 20,000; Tulare
County, 1,000; Solano County, 16,000;
other parts of California, 1,000; State
of Texas, 500; Mississippi, 100.— Wood-
land Mail.

Sowing Flower Seeds. — Provide a
quantity of finely pulverized mold in a
basket or barrow, and cover them by
sprinkling it evenly over with the hand.
Avoid soaking the beds with water un-
til the plants are up. If the surface is
likely to become too dry after sowing,
which is often the case, put on a thin
gauzy mulching. This may be pulver-
ized moss, thin canvas, or even a news-
paper. Every person who plants a
flower-garden should know the hardy
plants, which usually come up soon,
and may be sown early, from the ten-
der, which are often more tardy in ap-
pearing, and should be sown later.
Most seed catalogues designate these
separately.

Chimonanthus Fragrans. — The Pe-
tersburg Messenger, noticing a bouquet
sent by Mr. Bryant of that city in the
depth of winter, refers to this remarka-
bly interesting shrub, and it moves us
to repeat what we have before said,
that it is astonishing so sweet a thing
should be so little known. The buds,
cut off and put in water, will expand in
a warm room and fill it with fragrance.

Cure for the Potato Bug Pest. — An
ingenious Frenchman on Long Island
claims to have discovered a sure means
of destroying the Potato bugs. Mix
one gallon of prussic acid with three

ounces of rendrock ; stir well, and ad-
minister a tablespoonful every hour and
a half till the bug shows signs of weak-
ening. Then stamp on him.

Water-lilies may be raised about the
house by the following method : Sink
in the ground half of an oak cask, and
cover the bottom with peat and swamp
mud, and then fill with water. Dig the
lily roots in the spring, and place them
in the earth at the bottom of the tub.
No further care is required than an oc-
casional supply of water.

The battle of the pavements in Lon-
don has been won by wood, the city
engineer having shown in its favor that
a horse before falling may be expected
to travel on granite 132 miles, on as-
phalt 191, and on wood 440 miles.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,
Fob the Month ending August 31, 1876.

(Prepared for The Hobticultdbist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
18 Market Street.)

BAEOMETEB.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.02 in.

do 12m 30.02

do 3 p. m 30.01

do 6p.m 30.00

Highest point on the 23d at 12 m 30.12

Lowest point on the 29th at 12 m 29.87

THEBMOMETEB.
( With north exposure and free from reflected heat.)

Mean height at 9 a. m 63°

do 12 m 68°

do 3 p. m 67°

do 6 P. m 63°

Highest point on the 10th at 12 m 80c

Lowest point on the 17th at 9 a. m 58°

SELF-BEGISTEBING THEBMOMETEB.

Mean height during the night 48°

Highest point at sunrise on the 22d 54°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 9th 40°

WINDS.

South and south-west on 4 days; west on 25 days ;
south-east on 2 days.

WEATHEB.
Clear all day 13 days; cloudy all day 3 days; variable
on 15 days; misting rain on 2 days.

BAIN GAUGE. Inch.

7th 0.01

14th 0.01

Total 0.02

Previously reported 0.01

Total up to date 0.03

Fuchsia ("Tinted Venus.)

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI. SAE" FRANCISCO, OCTOBER, 1876. ]STo. 10.

GARDENING IN THE EAST INDIES, AND
BOTANY BACK OF MADRAS.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

Horticulture is seen wherever Anglo-
Saxons are, especially the culture of
flowers. In India, we are informed by
a late traveler there, every railway sta-
tion has its bed of flowers, pots and
tubs of favorite plants, and wall cover-
ed with creepers and vines. Nearly ev-
ery bungalow (country house) has a
garden, often well stocked with beauti-
ful flowers and foliage. All large
towns have public gardens, which have
been introduced through the inherent
taste for flowers of the Rajahs (native
princes and rulers), or through the ef-
forts of refining Europeans. At Alla-
habad there are two gardens, both of
which possess great beauty, and are al-
ways undergoing improvement. In
one of them, our informant states that
he saw a splendid attempt at bedding
with English garden flowers (which are
prized more than the tropical ones by
the Anglo-Indians, "and, of course, have
a greater interest for the natives), viz. :
Antirrhinums, Verbenas, Petunias, As-
ters, Phloxes, Stocks, Tagetes, Portu-

VOL. VI.— 20.

laccas, Gazanias, Pelargoniums, Ager-
atums, Penstemons, etc.

At Cawnpore there is a very pretty
little garden. It is where the great
massacre took place. Here is a seclud-
ed and quiet spot, with everything as
still as death except the gentle breezes
blowing through the lofty trees, and
the soft twittering of small birds, and
the mournful habit of the droojDing
Cupressus funebris around you. This
garden is well stocked with foliage and
flowering plants, and kept in the finest
order. The botanical garden of the
north-western provinces of India is sit-
uated at Saharunpore, and is about the
best in India. The grounds are very
extensive, and the botanical collection
is rich, especially in the flora of North-
ern India, and other cool tropical parts.
Eucalypti, Mahogany, and Millingtonia
hortensis grow to an immense size, and
the majority of English garden flowers
thrive exceedingly well. Lately, the
cultivation of Bcehmeria nivea has been
successfully attempted. The fibre pro-
duced by this plant excels all other fi-
bres in strength and beauty, and would
undersell all others if an easier and
cheaper method could be discovered
than the one now in vogue, and experi-

298

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUEIST.

ments are now being made concerning
this. It is known as Bhea fibre, or Chi-
nese grass.

Our narrator informed us, also, that
he had seen ancient and modern Euro-
pean buildings, Grecian temples, Egyp-
tian pyramids and palaces, Hindoo
temples, and the wonderful mosques of
the Mahometans ; but, according to
his idea, all these sink into insignifi-
cance before the mighty presence of
the Tadj Mahal tomb at Agra. It is
built of rose and white marble, literal-
ly worked into a lovely picture of flow-
ers, history, and designs, by the inlay-
ing of black marble, jasper, cornelians,
agates, turquoises, coral, garnets, por-
phyry, sapphires, and diamonds. The
whole of the Koran is inlaid with black
marble, and all the hieroglyphics are
done by inlaying. The front of this
wonderful tomb is gracefully set off by
a beautiful garden, with a stream of
water running through the centre.
Bignonia venusta, Bouganvillea glabra,
and B. spectabilis were splendid in their
display of massive blooms. Dracaenas,
Crotons, Palms, Cycads, Araucarias,
and numerous flowering herbs and
shrubs, a few coniferse and umbrageous
tropical trees, all tended to lend a charm
to the scene. This grand and wonder-
ful edifice was erected by Shah Jehan,
as a monument to his much beloved and
favorite empress, Moumton Mahal, over
200 years ago. It stands right on the
barren banks of the Jumna. In the
centre of the large dome the empress
sleeps the sleep of death in an elegant-
ly sculptured and inlaid marble coffin,
the emperor in a similar one by her
side, the whole surrounded by a gor-
geous balustrade of sculptured marble.

The Nilgiri Mountains are about 200
miles northwest of the Presidency of
Madras, on the Coromandel Coast.
Merchants and officers of the Govern-

ment possess handsome villas on them,
and retire during the hottest months to
enjoy the healthful atmosphere of these
hills and mountains. These mount-
ains rise to upward of 8,000 feet. Bo-
tanically, these hills are divided into
four tracts, each having its own flora.
Back in the forests there are trees which
attain an immense size, 200 to 250 feet
in height, and of course it is no easy
task to obtain their flowers, and there
can be no doubt that there are still a
good many undescribed.

These forest tracts yield many of the
most valuable timbers of the Presiden-
cy, of which the following may be said
to be the most important : Cedrela Toona
(White Cedar), Chloroxy-lon Swietenla
(the Satin-wood), Schleicheralrijuga, Dal-
bergia latifolia (the Black- wood or Bose-
wood), Pterocarpus Marsupium, Hard-
wickia binata, Xylia dolabriformis, Albiz-
zia odoratissima, Terminalia tomentosa,
Lagerstromia microcarpia, Tectonagrandis
(Teak), Gmelina arbor ea, Phyllanthus
Emblica, Santalum album (Sandal-wood).

Above 4,000 feet these forests begin
to decrease in size, and toward the plat-
eau they gradually pass into what will
be treated of as the sholas. The tim-
bers as a rule are not of such good
quality as those in the deciduous for-
ests, but there are valuable timbers, of
which the following are the chief: Cal-
ophyllumlomeniosum, Mesua (Iron-wood)
two species, Eopea parviflora, Hopea
malabarica, Diospyros Ebenum (Ebony),
Chichrassi tabularisa (Chittagong wood),
Acrocarpus fraxinifolius (Bed Cedar, or
Shingle-tree), Artocarpus hirsutus, Gi-
ronniera reticulata.

Ferns and mosses abound. Alsophila
latebroza, a Tree Fern, is abundant. Or-
chids are very poorly represented.
There is one species of reed Bamboo
( Arundinaria Wightiana), and some
shrubby Balsams and Begonias.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

299

The grass land of the plateau is cov-
ered with many coarse species of grass,
which are quite burnt up with the sun
and frost in December and January ;
after the first showers in March the
growth is very rapid, and numerous
herbaceous plants spring up. The Or-
chids are very poor compared to those
of the Himalayas and Birma, but the
following are the best, and well worthy
of cultivation : Dendrobium aqueum,
Ccelogyna, Arundina bambusifolia, Cyr-
topera flava, Gyrtopera fusca, Vanda
spathulata, Vanda Boxburghii, Ipsea mal-
abarioa, Aerides Wightianum, Aerides
Lindleyanum, Galanthe Masuca, Platan-
thera Susannce.

One hundred and seventy-six Ferns
have been detected on these hills, and
probably others as yet only known from
other districts will be discovered on the
western slopes. Two of these Ferns,
Lastrea scalrosa and ferruginea, are, it is
believed, not found elsewhere.

DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS IN THE
WORLD.

BY BOTANIST.

The distribution of plants being de-
pendent on favorable conditions, we
must know accurately what the condi-
tions are, if we would understand the
nature of the group likely to be found
in any given place. There are certain
parts of the earth — as equatorial Amer-
ica— that seem especially adapted for
forest vegetation ; certain others — as
the islands of the South Seas — where
Ferns chiefly inhabit; and others, where
mosses and lichens are most common.
The causes are for the most part climat-
al, though soil has much to do with
the determination of the tribes that
shall flourish in any district at a given
time.

But climate does not depend entire-
ly on latitude, and thus the distribu-
tion of plants is not confined to definite
horizontal tracts in similar geographi-
cal position. Although, generally
speaking, the climatal conditions are
similar in places similarly situated, this
is only the case where there is no great
difference of level. On the sides of
high mountains within the tropics we
may find every variety of temperature,
from the hottest and most humid at-
mosphere to a thin, cold, dry air, like
that within the Arctic circle, and quite
as cold. We have thus certain limits
of vegetation in vertical as well as hor-
izontal space. Warmth and moisture
are conditions eminently favorable to
plant life, and all organic nature is
chiefly energetic where these abound,
provided there is no interference of in-
terests. But where there is such in-
terference, whatever be the cause, the
species best adapted to the conditions
must gain the day in the struggle.
Sometimes vegetation advances at the
expense of animal life, but elsewhere
animal life prevails almost to the exclu-
sion of vegetation. The banks of trop-
ical rivers at low level are examples of
the former, and the waters of the ocean
of the latter case. Certain kinds of
vegetation under certain circumstances
will often permanently exclude other
kinds.

There are a number of recognized
botanical regions in the earth. The
number of these regions is large, and
not absolutely defined, as botanical au-
thors increase them from time to time,
according to the progress of discoveiy.
It is neither necessary nor desirable to
trouble the reader with detailed ac-
counts, or mere lists of these, the ob-
ject of the present article being rather
to give a general idea than teach the
special facts on which the conclusions

300

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

are based. But it will be useful and
suggestive to place before the student
the outlines of a compact and concise
arrangement long ago suggested by
Humboldt.

It is assumed in this outline that
there are parts of the earth where cer-
tain tribes of plants are most at home.
Here they overpower all intruders.
Hence they are believed to have diverg-
ed, entering occasionally adjoining ter-
ritories, but not conquering them.
Each group is supposed to have a place,
and for the present each keeps it. How
long they have done so, or when their
empire will cease, we must not now con-
sider. The former inquiry belongs to
paleontology, or the history of past
races ; the latter is purely speculative.

At present, then, we may say, speak-
ing of lands near the sea level, that
first, Palms and Bananas are the plants
of the equator, up to 2,000 feet ; sec-
ond, Tree Ferns and species of Ficus be-
long to the tropics generally, corre-
sponding in height at the equator to
between 2,000 and 4,000 feet; third,
Myrtles and Laurels to sub-tropical re-
gions, 4,000 to 6,000 feet ; fourth, ev-
ergreen trees to warm temperate coun-
tries, 6,000 to 8,000 feet; fifth, decidu-
ous trees, such as the Oak and Beech,
and most of the north European trees,
to the colder temperate zone, 8,000 to
10,000 feet ; sixth, Pines to the sub-
arctic zone, 10,500 to 11,500 feet ; sev-
enth, Rhododendrons to arctic latitudes
or high elevations, 11.500 to 13,500
feet ; eighth and lastly, the Lichens and
Mosses, and what are sometimes called
Alpine plants, are chiefly met with on
the lands around the two poles, or on
the highest points of land at which veg-
etation appears in lofty mountains, be-
tween 13,500 and 15,500 feet at the
equator.

That this distribution represents im-

portant and intelligible facts no one
will deny, and it will be evident that
the law of distribution is applicable,
without much difficulty or error, in the
case of mountains of great elevation
under the tropics. On the mountains
of Mexico, where the Palm flourishes
at the foot, the last trees are met with
at a height of 13,000 feet. Above them
are Alpine plants and Lichens. On the
Himalaya Mountains the Birch is found
on the north side at 14,000 feet, and
the Alpine plants reach much higher.

Although there is a general corre-
spondence, there are causes which pro-
duce a marked difference of range in
different parts of the world. Thus the
Pine, so abundant and characteristic in
most parts of the world, and so well
defined in its habits, only reaches to
10,870 feet in the Pyrenees, and 6,700
in the Alps. In Lapland neither the
Pine nor the Birch rise to 2,000 feet
above the sea. So, again, the Rhodo-
dendron is found as the last of the
shrubs, attaining in the Caucasus 8,000
feet, in the Pyrenees 8,300 feet, in the
Alps 7,480 feet, and in Lapland 3,000
feet.

(to be continued).

VAKIEGATED STOVE PLANTS.

BY A BOTANIST.

Some thirty years ago the species of
variegated stove plants was very limit-
ed. Loudon, in his " Encyclopedia of
Gardening," classes many kinds of stove
plants, but entirely omits these. Yet
nurserymen then, and for years previ-
ously, esteemed variegated plants high-
ly. It was thought quite a hit to ob-
tain a new variegated Elm, Ash, Syca-
more, or any other tree, either by seed
or a chance sjDray, with colored foliage.
Whenever such a lucky chance happen-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

301

ed, the plant or the bush was imme-
diately propagated by budding or graft-
ing. So it was, also, with shrubs, ever-
greens, or deciduous trees. In the com-
mon Holly they were eminently success-
ful, but in the Laurels and Sweet Bays no
permanent success was achieved. The
Aucuba japonica came to hand from Ja-
pan, with leaves already spotted, and a
most useful plant it has proved. We
have seen some plants of it with leaves
nearly green, but such were invariably
grown in rich soil, in the shade. This
was undoubtedly a natural variegation,
and the plants were perfectly healthy.
There are also some herbaceous plants
with leaves very prettily variegated.
This variegation of plants is an exceed-
ingly curious and interesting subject.
How is it obtained? "What causes it?
What process can we take to cause
plants, hitherto with green leaves, to
change and give us parti-colored foli-
age ? We are quite in the dark on this
subject. One point is curious enough.
Plants with fine variegated foliage have,
with very rare exceptions, insignificant
flowers — instance the Holly, the Aucu-
ba, the Croton, and even the far-famed
Farfugium grancle. The flowers are in-
conspicuous, and, to use a common
phrase, are not worth a cent. It seems
as if nature, having given these plants
beautiful leaves, thought flowers a su-
perfluity; indeed, plants that have
sweet, large, showy flowers would not
be generally thought improved if they
had variegated foliage. We should
certainly be shocked, and think it un-
healthy, if a Rose-tree produced varie-
gated leaves, or even a Camellia, or Tu-
lip, or Carnation. In fruit- bearing
plants, also, we should not be struck
with admiration to see a variegated-
leaved Apple, Pear, Cherry, Peach, or
Plum-tree. Should any one sport into
variegation, it would be looked upon as

a monster, hardly any longer valuable
for its fruit. It would be kept, if kept
at all, merely as a curiosity. Thus, we
see there are limits even in obtaining
variegation, to be consistent with good
taste. We now all consider variegated
leaved stove as well as many other
plants exceedingly beautiful and valua-
ble, and certainly that consistently with
the greatest reason. Many of these
stove plants are beautiful when in flow-
er, but the greater part of these various
lovely and various-colored leaved plants
are delightful objects all the year round
— a great recommendation, sufficient to
induce growers to cultivate them large-
ly; indeed, they are entirely indispen-
sable in every collection. They are,
also, a very important item at exhibi-
tions, both at all metropolitan shows,
and also at the most distant provincial
exhibitions. For decorative purposes,
also, wherever there is a stove plant-
house they are found in considerable
numbers. There seems, indeed, to be
at various epochs, a kind of mania for
certain plants or flowers. .There was
once a rage for Tulips, and that to such
an extent that it was named Tulip ma-
nia or Tulip madness. In pot plants
and in gardens in the summer, in Eu-
rope, Heaths once were veiy fashiona-
ble, then Orchids, then Ferns, and now
thesj variegated plants are much the
fashion of the day, combined with plants
that have beautiful or singular foreign-
looking foliage. These attractive, vari-
ously-colored plants are always happily
increasing in most pleasing and im-
pressive variety.

To Keep Fkuit. — Beat well together
equal parts of honey and spring water
in an earthen vessel ; put in your Apri-
cots, Plums, and Peaches, freshly gath-
ered ; cover closely and they will keep
fresh for a year.

302

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

§0(1 mtl $Utt.

THE GRIZZLY BEAE, BEOWN BEAE, AND
PANTHEE.

BY A HUNTER.

During a late visit to the north fork
of the Novarro River — a locality well
supplied for the delectation of sports-
men "with plenty of deer in the red-
woods, and brook trout in the streams,
and with black bear far from uncom-
mon, though the more formidable griz-
zlies are now very scarce — our party
were sometimes amused while resting
of evenings at the pleasant and well-
conducted North Fork House, by anec-
dotes and experiences of hunters and
old lumbermen in encounters with pan-
thers and brown and grizzly bears, as
well as exploits in the following and
killing of deer and elk, the latter ani-
mal being now scarcely ever met with
in Mendocino, but more common in
Humboldt County, further north, and
much increasing in numbers still high-
er up the coast. One of the narrators,
who had been in the neighborhood of
the rivers running into the Pacific in
Mendocino County, at an early period
of California's history, informed us that
he was once riding on horseback through
these redwoods, as he was continually
in the habit of doing in connection with
the lumber business, when his horse
suddenly made a terrific jump on one

side of the trail, and the rider looking
back, his eyes met those of a very large
panther crouching low, apparently for
a spring upon him or his horse. The
rider in this dilemma continued to fix
his steady gaze on the terrible animal,
and moved his horse forward, but the
beast rose up slowly, followed him and
crouched again, both still staring at
each other. Then the rider, whose
horse had become steadier and less
alarmed, took advantage of a short turn
in the trail, and whipping his horse
forward, at the same time taking his
eyes off those of the panther, made his
escape in safety. It seems, by this
man's account and belief, that general-
ly the moment the human eye is taken
off that of a panther, the latter at once
leaves his intended victim, and either
sneaks or leaps away from him. In the
early days of California the settlers
used jacks as beasts of burthen, or for
packers of merchandise, etc. Some-
times panthers attacked these animals,
either in the camps or at pasturage,
and it was perfectly astonishing how
these jacks would stand a contest with
the panthers. The jacks would fiercely
fight them with their forelegs and in
the most violent and rapid manner, and
so defend themselves, and keep the
panther from killing them for a long
time. These battles were occasionally
witnessed by some of the pioneers, but
after awhile the jacks were compelled

THE CALIFORNIA HOETICULTUKIST.

303

to succumb to their powerful and more
active antagonists, from pure loss of
blood in the continual tearing off of
their flesh by these persistent attacks
upon them.

We were told that within the last year
in this locality a large grizzly had been
in the habit of destroying the calves,
sheep, and hogs of the stock raisers,
and this creature had continued his
depredations for years, unhurt and un-
prevented by all the attempts the set-
tlers had made to get rid of him, but at
length, about a year since, having seiz-
ed a hog of a stock man, and leaving a
portion of it in a field, he was patiently
waited for by several men, in expecta-
tion of his returning for the remains of
his spoils. He returned and was shot,
but only wounded, when he made for a
large thicket, where he was finally sur-
rounded and destroyed by many gun
and rifle balls. The grizzly, as is well
known, is gigantic in size, and terrific
in aspect; he unites to a ferociously
blood-thirsty disposition (though he
sometimes subsists on roots and fruits),
a surpassing strength of limb, which
gives him almost undisputed supremacy
over every other quadruped tenant of
the wilderness, and causes, as is con-
tinually manifested, man himself to
tremble at his approach, though pos-
sessed of such splendid and effective
weapons as a Remington or improved
Winchester rifle. He is remarkably te-
nacious of life, and on many occasions
numerous rifle-balls are fired into him
without much apparent injury. In-
stances were related to us by some of
the old hunters we met on our trip, of
from ten to fourteen balls having been
discharged into the body of one of these
beasts before they expired. The chance
of killing a grizzly by a single shot is
very small, unless the ball penetrates
the brain, or passes through the heart.

This is very difficult to effect, since the
form of the skull, and the strong mus-
cles on the side of the head protect the
brain against every injury, except a
very truly aimed shot ; and the thick
coat of hair, the strong muscles and
ribs make it nearly as difficult to lodge
a ball fairly in the heart. He strikes
very violent blows with his fore-paws,
and his claws inflict dreadful wounds.
Some hunters said that this bear is un-
able to climb trees like other bears, but
others asserted that he will ascend the
oaks, though slowly and clumsily, for
the acorns, and break off branches so
large as almost to ruin the tree. He
does not at all times kill his enemies
when he has them in his power, and
rarely attacks a man unless he comes
upon him or a she-bear with cubs, by
surprise.

While our party was at the North
Fork House, three brown bears were
caught by a trapper, in a pen, within
two miles of where we stayed. They
are quite common in this vicinity, but
more so further north, in the immense
extent of the redwood forests. They
will feed on pigs, and huckleberries
and other fruit, and various products of
the fields and woods. There are varie-
ties of these animals throughout the
United States with different names, as
the yellow bear, cinnamon, black, etc.,
a nomenclature obviously derived from
the color of their pelage or skin. The
common brown bear of the redwoods is
granivorous, feeding sometimes in An-
derson's Yalley on the corn, and he is
a great bee hunter, and voracious ama-
teur of honey. He does not, however,
refuse a change of diet, when it offers
in the shape of animal food, such as
young calves, lambs, sheep, and pigs.
Moreover, when he has once addicted
himself to this sanguineous diet, he
rarely returns to his more innocent veg-

304

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

etable regimen, and becomes a very
pest to the farmer.

To man, unless pursued and wound-
ed, lie is perfectly innocuous, and will,
on occasions, if permitted, betake him-
self to his heels, which carry him off at
a far more rapid rate than his singular
waddling and awkward gait would lead
you to imagine possible. Even when
badly hurt he is not dangerous, and
though he may charge and make a sav-
age snap at you en passant, he is easily
avoided, and rarely, if ever, returns to
the charge voluntarily. At close quar-
ters he is, of course, an ugly customer,
parrying all blows aimed at him with a
blunt weapon, or even with an axe, the
handle of which he will dash aside,
without allowing the head to strike him,
with the dexterity of a prize fighter.
A tomahawk is, therefore, useless used
as a missile, an instrument of no avail
against him, while with a good stout
bowie knife of two or three pounds'
weight, the hunters here have no diffi-
culty whatever in going in hand to hand
with the brute while at bay, in order to
preserve their hounds from his fatal
claws, and yet more fatal hug; nor is it
once in a hundred times that their te-
merity is punished with a serious wound.

The exception to the innocuous char-
acter of this beast, is the female with
young cubs. She has been known, as
we were told by experienced bear hunt-
ers, pertinaciously to attack intruders
upon the privacy of her young bearlings,
and even to climb trees in pursuit of the
offender, to the utmost height the
strength of the branches will admit, and
then, unable to rise higher, to maul and
mangle the dependent limbs of the fu-
gitive in her impotent ferocity. Such
incidents are, however, uncommon,
and rarely take place with men, though
children and, young lads are not unfre-
quently thus annoyed in the settlements

where these beasts abound. In the
redwoods the bear is not much scienti-
fically hunted, for it is very shy, but is
mostly trapped, for the purpose of re-
ceiving the five dollars reward for its
scalp. Sometimes the deer hunters
stumble on him by accident while in
pursuit of their game, or, falling on
his tracks, and hunting him out with
one or two steady old dogs, shoot him
at a single shot as a matter of business.
Occasionally, when they have found his
watering places or wallows, such men
lie in wait for him in the afternoon, and
shoot him from ambush to leew7ard of
his trail. The head of the bear never
should be aimed at ; in the first place,
the animal, when at bay, keeps it con-
stantly in motion, so that it offers any-
thing but an easy mark; in the second,
it is so very hard, and of a form so sin-
gularly rounded, that unless the bullet
strikes it at right angles, on a perpen-
dicular line, it is almost sure to glance
off at a tangent, without inflicting a
wound. The best places at which to
aim are the centre of the breast, if he
be coming directly at you ; if he be fac-
ing you, erect on his hind quarters, a
little to the left, and low down on the
breast toward the belly ; if he be cross-
ing you, below the shoulder, about the
arch of the ribs. Never strike, but
thrust with a knife, for he will parry
the blow. Keep the edge of the blade
upward and outward, if you are facing
the animal, and forward, if you are
standing against his broadside. By
this means his paw, in parrying, will
meet the edge of the knife, which will
probably disable him.

It is stated that immense numbers of
salmon are lost every spring in the trib-
utaries of the Columbia River. The
rise and fall of these streams are so sud-
den that millions are left upon the land.

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

305

TROUT FISHING— HOW TO FISH.

BY PISCATOR.

Here are a few words about the best
method of fly-fishing a river, brook, or
streamlet, supposing the angler to be a
stranger to it, and that his operations
are somewhat interfered with or ob-
structed by the sometimes unwelcome
presence of other competitors for the
honors of the day. Perseverance does
much by keeping the hook continually
in the water. "Whether angling for sal-
mon or trout, the chance of getting a
rise is much in the favor of the angler
who is the most skillful in lightly throw-
ing the fly — which should light on the
water always before any part of the
line. And this is worthy of every at-
tention— although it is almost unneces-
sary to point out a fact which is self-
evident — that it is impossible for any
angler to catch fish while he is merely
wandering along the banks of the
stream with the flies in his hand, or
his line floating in the wind ; while on
the other hand, it is equally an unpro-
fitable waste of time to keep pottering
and thrashing a pool a dozen times
over, when the fish in it stubbornly re-
fuse to rise. Every experienced fisher
is acquainted with the fact that while
the " feed " is completely off one stream
or pool, so that not a fish will stir in it,
it may happen that the tenants of the
next are all on the qui vive, and rise at
almost every cast. Now, the best plan
is to follow a medium course; to fish
every inch of water where it is possible
for a trout to lie, as they will frequent-
ly be found in parts of the water where
least expected ; and should there hap-
pen to be a slight fresh breeze on the
stream or brook, the fish will be found
to be generally diffused over it, though
mostly in rapids, riffles, eddies, and
shallower places. But by no means

dally over water where there are either
no fish or where they will not rise. To
be sure, fish that will not rise at all
will often take some bait, either on the
top or under the surface of the water.
The angler, however, with the fly, must
try every portion of a stream, step by
step, where there is any likelihood of
there being fish, and he will soon find
out at what particular part of the pool
or reach they are lying. There he must
continue casting as long as he gets a
rise, and even when they cease doing so
he had better light his meerschaum,
give them a few minutes' rest, and re-
commence at the top of the river (as
trout frequently shift their position
within a short time), and go over the
whole again. It is evident, then, that
the sportsman who merely makes a few
casts here and there into the most like-
ly-looking pools — he may be at the top
of the stream, while the fish are all ly-
ing quietly at their ease near its foot —
and on not meeting with a rise, impa-
tiently hoists his rod over his shoulder,
and stalks indignantly off in search of
more favorable casts, will be fruitlessly
spending his time in tramping the
banks, or the dry places in the brook,
while the industrious sportsman who
adopts the other course is filling his
creel. The same plan will hold good
in all other kinds of fishing, as well as
the fly. It is also a needless waste of
time to attempt to get before any other
sportsman who may chance to have pos-
session of the water, however great an
advantage the first rod may have over
all that follow ; for as soon as he per-
ceives an attempt made to pass him, he
will at once hoist the rod over his shoul-
der, and play the same game. Hence,
if both the competitors are of an obsti-
nate disposition, the affair will eventual-
ly resolve itself into a pedestrian con-
test, instead of a day's fishing, The

306

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

best plan, then, for an angler to adopt,
is to quietly light his pipe, and console
himself with the fragrance of the weed
for an hour or so (although the writer
himself does not particularly recom-
mend tobacco in any form), until the fish
regain their equanimity.

In comparatively still and well-fed
waters, where the trout are surfeited to
repletion with a superabundance of in-
sect food, their tastes are singularly ca-
pricious and whimsical, and like all
gourmands already over-gorged, they
will often disdainfully refuse the more
substantial flies, be they ever so cor-
rectly dressed, and only rise, apparent-
ly, more for the sake of sport than for
the purpose of feeding. We have fre-
quently observed them, on such occa-
sions, rise freely at the knots in the
casting line, and entirely disregard the
most taking flies attached to it. In
such cases as this, which happen gen-
erally in the summer drought, when
the waters are fine, and all kinds of in-
sect food cry " Rise and eat" (like the
porkers of St. Salvador, which are said
to perambulate the streets with knives
and forks ready stuck in their backs),
small flies will generally do more exe-
cution than large ones. But in rough,
streamy rivers, where there is only a
moderate supply of insect delicacies,
the fish evidently prefer more substan-
tial fare, as here it is a dinner and not
a dessert they are in quest of ; and the
representatives of the larger flies, of
the full natural size, will be most in
request. In such waters, a large trout
will not be at trouble to put his pon-
derous carcass in motion to capture
nearly a nonenity.

A method for economically pressing
the juice from Limes is now the great
want of the southern counties, the fruit
being too abundant for profitable sale.

CONVEYANCE OF LITE FISH.

"We are now beginning to learn that,
up to a certain point, the value of wa-
ter for non-lung-breathing aquatic ani-
mals does not so much depend on its
amount as upon its distribution in such
a manner that it shall absorb the great-
est quantity of atmospheric air, or rath-
er of the oxygen which enters into the
composition of that air, leaving much
of the nitrogen out unabsorbed. The
earliest authority for this fact was the
late Dr. R. Ball, who, in Bell's British
Crustacea, records how much better he
kept a crayfish (Astacus) in a shallow
vessel than in a deep one. In all my
aquarium work I keep this law in view,
and I regulate the amount of surface of
water exposed to air, as well as the ac-
tual quantity of water, according to the
known requirements of the animals to
be kept ; and the result is very surpris-
ing, both on the health of the creatures
and in the saving of the money cost of
constructing and maintaining aquaria.

I also apply the rule to the convey-
ance of aquarium animals. To give an
actual example, I find that the follow-
ing animals and some others may, at
certain temperatures, be safely sent
from Southend, in Essex, to the Crys-
tal Palace in boxes (or preferably in
baskets) packed in damp, freshly-gath-
ered seaweed: 1, nearly all the sea an-
emones ; 2, most of the Echinodermata;
3, a large number of Annalids ; 4, many
Crustacea; 5, some of the Tunicata; 6,
nearly all shelled Mollusca, both uni-
valves and bivalves, and some of the
Nudibranchiata ; the following fishes :
Amphioxus (this once came alive from
Naples in a post letter, and four of them
so brought are still alive in the Crystal
Palace aquarium), plaice, soles, brill,
rocklings, eels, gobies, blennies ( of
three species), sea scorpions.

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUKIST.

307

The explanation of the reason why
they so travel is this: They are sur-
rounded with moisture in a sufficient
degree to enable respiration to be car-
ried on. Take, for example, any fish
so conveyed. It is not immersed in
water, but its gills are kept wet by such
very thin films of water that their thin-
ness, otherwise shallowness, enables
them to be instantly oxygenated by
contact with the atmospheric air, which
enters the apertures of the containing
box or basket, and which permeates
the entire mass, and therefore the gill-
filaments are kept wet and separate
from one another, and the blood unin-
terruptedly flows through them, and is
aerated as it does so, oxygen being ab-
sorbed from the perfectly aerated water,
which thus does double duty in a meas-
ure. I admit that the balance thus
maintained is a delicate one, and is eas-
ily disturbed by external causes. Thus,
a heated atmosphere would cause the
moisture to evaporate and the gills to
dry up, and the circulation of the blood
would be arrested, and the fish or oth-
er creature would soon die. So, also,
great cold would freeze the gills into a
temporarily dry mass, and death would
likely ensue. But there is one thing
which I do not yet understand, and
which I should be very grateful to have
explained. It is this, that while many
of the creatures I have named will bear
the four hours' journey from Southend,
some of them will not bear the twelve
hours' transit from Plymouth, though
equal care be apparently taken with the
packing in both cases. But when such
packing is possible the gain is enor-
mous in everything. "We often at the
Palace get a couple of thousand of ani-
mals, or more, in packages weighing
not altogether half a hundred weight,
while if the same animals needed to be
conveyed in properly aerated vessels of

actual water, such creatures would re-
quire a pound weight of water instead
of only a fraction of a grain weight to
each. The money value of the moist
plan is strikingly shown in the instance
of shrimps, of which we use about a
ton weight every year at the Crystal
Palace Aquarium, for feeding purposes;
and we require them alive, because
many animals refuse to eat them when
dead. They cost us, in good condition,
about a shilling a quart ; but if it were
necessaiy to bring them alive in water,
they would cost at least a guinea a
quart. — W. A. Lloyd, in London Zo-
ologist.

ANGLING FOE EYELESS FISH.

At the Dickinson place, on the Bul-
lard Creek, near Six-mile Station, is a
ten-acre field which is nothing more
nor less than a subterranean lake cov-
ered with soil about eighteen inches
deep. On the soil is cultivated a field
of corn which will produce thirty or
forty bushels to the acre. If any one
will take the trouble to dig a hole the
depth of a spade-handle they will find
it to fill with water, and by using a
hook and line fish four and five inches
long can be caught. These fish are
different from others in not having eith-
er scales or eyes, and are perch-like in
shape. The ground is a black marl, al-
luvial in its nature, and in all probabil-
ity at one time it was an open body of
water, on which has accumulated vege-
table matter, which has been increased
from time to time, until now it has a
crust sufficiently strong and rich to pro-
duce fine corn, though it has to be cul-
tivated by hand; as it is not strong
enough to bear the weight of a horse.
While nooning, the field hands catch
great strings of delicate fish by merely
punching a hole through to the water.

308

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

A person rising on his heel and coming
down suddenly can see the growing
corn shake all around him. Any one
having the strength to drive a rail
through this crust will find on releas-
ing it that it will disappear entirely.
The whole section of country surround-
ing this field gives evidence of marshi-
ness, and the least shower of rain pro-
duces an abundance of mud. But the
question comes up, Has not this body
an outlet ? Although brackish, the wa-
ter tastes as if fresh, and we have no
doubt but that it is anything else than
stagnant. Yet these fish are eyeless
and scaleless — similar to those found in
caves. It is a subject for study, and
we would like to have some of our pro-
found citizens investigate it. — Montgom-
ery (Ala.) Bulletin.

A NEW CALIFORNIA DEEE.

The Hon. J. D. Caton describes in
The American Naturalist for August, a
new variety of the mule -deer (Gervus
macrotis), for which he proposes the
varietal name Californicus. Judge Ca-
ton first met with it on the estate of
Mr. Frost, at Santa Barbara, who is a
famous deer-hunter. With him Judge
Caton made an excursion into the Coast
Range at G-aviota Pass, and secured
three bucks. These were evidently a
variety of the mule-deer, and not of
the black-tailed, having all the distinct-
ive peculiarities of the former. The va-
riety differs from the type in being
smaller, of a more decidedly reddish
shade, in having a lesser patch of white
on the buttocks, and, most prominent-
ly, in the markings of the tail. The
tail of C. macrotis is entirely white ex-
cept a black tuft at the tip ; in the vari-
ety a black to reddish-black line extends
along the upper side of the tail from
the root to the tip. The habitat is not

as yet well determined, but Judge Ca-
ton thinks it safe to say that this varie-
ty predominates in the Coast Range
south of San Francisco, which seems to
be its northern limit. The Sierras seem
to define its eastern limit, east of which
it is replaced by the true deer. It as-
cends to higher altitudes than any oth-
er American deer, being frequently
found above timber line. Those living
in the high mountains are the largest,
Mr. Frost killing one which weighed
400 pounds. They are not uncommon,
and further information, it is hoped,
will soon be obtained of the distribution
and peculiarities of this novel variety.
A skin and skeleton have been sent to
the Smithsonian Institution by Judge
Caton.

©MWiwtttoa.

STARTING A FLOWER GARDEN.

Sunshine Cottage, )
Santa Barbara, Sept. 27. j
Editor Horticulturist : — Probably
there may be some one of your readers
who may desire information in regard
to starting a flower garden. I will
therefore give my experience. It may
aid some one, if given a place in the
Horticulturist ; so I would recommend
those intending to cultivate some of our
beautiful varieties of plants to start
right. If the work depends on your-
self, arrange your borders so that you
can conveniently work in and around
them. I have found it necessary to
have all the walks between borders not
less than three feet wide. Don't mound
your borders up like little hills ; they
dry out too quickly. When you have
the soil well spaded and fine, if possible
add a liberal quantity of sand. New
soil is generally rich enough at first,
and plants will thrive without fertilizers
if well watered in warm weather. As

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

309

soon as the borders are ready, if small
bushes can be procured — say, three feet
high and some perhaps a little more
than that — place the tall ones in the
centre of the side borders, as it is not
desirable to have anything tall in front
of the house, unless it be a rosary train-
ed to a trellis. By placing limbs or
bushes in the borders you can avoid
planting too closely. Had I only
known it when planting my choice Ro-
ses, it would have saved me labor and
vexation, for I have many to move.
The plants looked so small and the
borders so large that I imagined I
could still keep adding new varieties ;
but after only one year's growth I find
them embracing each other too tender-
ly. A Safrano Rose-bush looks loftily
down on a Cape Jessamine, and a Sal-
via is trying its best with brilliant scar-
let plumes to hide a Duchess Isabella
Rose and a President Grant Carna-
tion. I have removed many that have
lost favor, or some that were on trial
and condemned by the Judge, and giv-
en away. When I sat long rainy even-
ings culling from catalogues and mak-
ing up lists, my fancies reached fever
heat, and I was ready to take the well-
meaning florists' words that all were
desirable. Since then I have given
away many that were lovely only in an-
ticipation. We must not be guided by
florists or amateurs residing in cold cli-
mates as to what we shall plant. They
are obliged to have the usual variety of
annuals, such as Petunias, Phloxes,
Asters, etc. How cheap and sorry
they, look in a border where Camellias,
Cape Jessamines, Tea Roses, Tuberoses,
and other greenhouse perennials flour-
ish, and where the lovely scarlet Passi-
flora waves in the warm sunshine from
its trellis ! Nearly every one plants the
time-honored annuals the first year, but
let the perennials once open their

bright-eyed blooms and emit their fra-
grance, and away go the annuals over
the fence. If you try Pond Lilies,
make a little cement pond for them in
the beginning ; half barrels or tubs do
for six months only, or a year at most,
and are very likely to get leaky just as
the plants are ready to bloom, and
blasts the flowers as well as your hopes.
Mks. Gc. Edward Childs.

GUMMING" OF CHEEKY AND PLUM
TEEES.

Editor Horticulturist: — This sub-
ject is one that should interest all fruit
growers in California — that is to say,
all who grow this particular class of
fruit — it being one of the few diseases
which in this State have to be contend-
ed with. I am, however, presuming
that there is no known cure — or pre-
vention, which is better — but if there
be, doubtless some of the more experi-
enced practical pomologists will publish
the fact through the medium of your
valuable journal. In the first place,
What are some of the primary causes of
the gummy excretions so frequently ap-
parent on our Cherry and Plum-trees,
but especially the former ? As all ex-
cretions are formed by the assimilated
sap, so, therefore," the exudation must
be produced chiefly by the descending
current, after it has been elaborated by
the leaves. The idea prevalent in many
minds is, that the cause is directly, and
almost exclusively, an abundance of
sap drawn up from the roots in too
great a quantity to undergo the change
which it is one of the functions of the
leaves to perform, and, consequently,
works out through the bark. But, it
should be remembered, the crude sap
is hardly discernible from water, ex-
cept to the chemical analyst ; and it is
not until it has passed through the

310

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

leaves, and principally through the ac-
tion of the sun, becomes, as it is term-
ed, elaborated, that it is capable of
forming into the crystalized lumps of
gum which appear on the surface of the
bark. No doubt, when the trees are
grown in rich soil, and the roots have
penetrated far into the moist earth, the
cause is, indirectly, a superabundance
of sap, which, being unable fast enough
to push its way through the alburnum
or sap-wood, forces itself by the medul-
lary rays into the liber, when the two
streams meet. The result is obvious.

Another, and I think quite as frequent
a cause, is the abominable little pest
known as the borer worm. "When the
bark of some young Plum-trees, which
was perfectly unbroken, was cut into,
the only evidence that something was
wrong being a small quantity of gum
on the outside. I found these worms
boring in every direction within the in-
ner bark — in fact, in the passage of the
descending sap. Of course the fine
dust which falls as a result of their la-
bor, chokes up and rots the tender li-
ber; hence, as a natural consequence,
the assimilated sap accumulates above
the affected parts, and forms into crys-
tals as it gets under the direct influence
of the sun. I believe another cause to
be, oftentimes, a too rapid growth of
the tree, and a greater amount of foli-
age than it is well for so light wooded
a tree as the Cherry to do with. In
this case, the leaves (which are the chief
attracting power of the roots), are the
means of pumping the sap up, as it
were, before the vessels are properly
formed for its conveyance. Bruises
or wounds of any kind, will also be
the cause of gummy excretions on
these particular trees.

So much for some of the primary
causes, but an effectual remedy is not
so easy to treat of. When the appar-

ent cause is a superabundance of sap —
if the trees are young enough — it would
be well to lift them in the winter and
root prune them, cutting close back
any inclination to form a top. To be
on the safe side, they should be thus
treated in alternate winters for several
years after first planting out. This is,
I believe, a sure prevention of the evil
from this cause, and, instead of dying
off, as they often do when two or three
years old, they would live, and contin-
ue quite as productive for a very much
longer space of time.

If the trees are too large to move, it
appears that the only thing to be done
is to cut the gum and all decayed parts
cleanly out, once or twice in the year if
necessary. Of course, it is possible,
even in the case of full-grown trees, to
root prune them by digging down to
the roots, but it requires to be carefully
done. For trees attacked by the borer
worm, and excreting gum from this
cause, I know of no cure, unless it be
to watch them carefully, and destroy
the worms before they have time to
work much harm. Is there a known
remedy for trees affected in this way ?
A pretty sure prevention is to take the
trees in hand when quite young, and
dress the stem and thickest part of the
limbs with a strong solution of lime.
But this should only be done when the
bark is perfectly whole and sound.

It has struck me since writing the
above, that a system of "pinching"
the young shoots of Cherry-trees dur-
ing the growing season would be bene-
ficial, especially to young trees — and
likely to act as a preventive to a great
extent, of gumming, by checking the
growth of the roots. — L. C, Napa Val-
ley, Col.

It is estimated that California con-
sumes 10,000,000 Oranges per annum.

THE CALIFOENIA HOETICULTUKIST.

311

gtlttttft %xftfl*&

OCTOBER.

Sweet is the voice that calls,

From babbling water falls,
In meadows where the downy seeds are flying ;

And the soft breezes blow

And, eddying, come aud go
In faded gardens, where the Bose is dying.

Among the stubbled corn

The blithe quail pipes at morn ;
The merry partridge drums in hidden places ;

And glistening insects gleam

Above the reedy stream,
"Where busy spiders spin their flimsy laces.

At eve, cool shadows fall

Across the garden wall,
And in the clustered Grapes, to purple turning;

And pearly vapors lie

Along the eastern sky,
"Where the broad harvest moon is redly burning.

Ah ! soon, on field and hill,
The wind shall whistle chill,

And patriarch swallows call their flocks together
To fly from frost and snow,
And seek for lands where blow

The fairer blossoms of balmier weather.

The pollen-dusted bees

Search for honey-lees
That linger in the last flowers of September ;

While plaintive moaning doves

Coo sadly, to their loves,
Of the dead summer they so well remember.

The cricket chirps all day

' O, fairest summer, stay!'
The squirrel eyes askance the chestnut browning;

The wild fowl fly afar

Above the foamy bar,
And hasten southward ere the skies are frowning.

Now comes a fragrant breeze

Through the dark Cedar trees,
And around my temple fondly lingers

In gentle playfulness ;

Like the soft caress
Bestowed, in happier days, by loving fingers.

Yet, though a sense of grief

Comes with the falling leaf,
Andmemory makes the summer doubly pleasant;

In all my autumn dreams

A future summer gleams,
Passing the fairest glories of the present !

THE LAWN.

There is no prettier feature about a
dwelling than a nice grassy lawn.
There are many of them in San Jose,
but generally only in front of the most
costly residences. Now there is noth-
ing so very expensive about a lawn as
to prohibit peox^le from having them,
and enjoying the green carpet where
the children can frolic in sportive glee,
and the eye can rest relieved from the
general glare of the desert brown of
the hills and stubble fields at this sea-
son. Every household can have its
oasis to give life and cheerfulness to
its surroundings. Quite as much as
they need money to supply necessities,
do our farmers and the people general-
ly need to cultivate the aesthetic tastes,
and to gain the serene enjoyments of
tasteful homes and places which a lit-
tle time pleasantly given can as well
procure as money can. The enjoyment
of self-satisfaction arising from such ef-
fort is something that money can not
purchase.

One of the main necessities for a lawn
is plenty of water, for grass can not
make a thick sward and keep a fresh
growth of living green in our climate,
without abundant irrigation. A wind-
mill and water-tank, an artesian well
with pipes laid through the grounds to
be cultivated, or pipes from a hydrant,
are necessary preparations. Irrigation
may be applied by flooding over the
surface, or by showering. Practically,
it makes but little difference which. A
soil properly prepared will hold water
sufficient to make the grass grow beau-
tifully, if watered thoroughly only once
in two weeks. If showered only light-
ly, once in three days will answer. For
economy, the flooding is preferable.

The under-laid pipes may be of wood,
with plugs at intervals to draw out and
allow the water to flood the surface.

312

THE CALIFOKNIA HOBTICTTLTUBIST.

Once prepared, a lawn is no trouble,
but a continual pleasure. The grass
you will clip from it all the year round
will more than pay for all the trouble.
Indeed, as an investment, on every
farm, a liberal sized lawn can be made
to pay by supplying soiling for the cows
and horses the year round. A half acre
will supply many tons of sweet green
feed, if richly dressed with manure oc-
casionally, and well watered through
the dry season.

The following are practical hints on
making a lawn:

The soil should be deeply and thor-
oughly pulverized — making it rich with
well-rotted cow (the best) or horse ma-
nure. If the soil is naturally rich, a
good quality of manure will still im-
prove it.

Care should be taken to have a smooth
surface — permitting no depressions any-
where, where water might stand. If
the lawn is intended to be flat, it should
be made as smooth as possible before
sown.

A lawn may be made at any time in
California, but the most propitious pe-
riod is from the 1st of September to
the 15th of November, or between Feb-
ruary 1st and March 15th. If made
during warm, dry weather, after the
seed has been sown and raked in it
should have a top-dressing one inch
thick of well -rotted, finely -pulverized
manure, which serves to protect the
seed during germination and making
its first roots. This dressing will stim-
ulate growth of grass at any time, and
might be advantageously used no mat-
ter at what period seed is sown.

There are several varieties of grass
used for the formation of lawns, but
the more acceptable are the best quality
of Blue Grass sown alone, the same
with a proper proportion of White
Sweet Clover, and the Mixed Lawn

Grass, which is composed, as its name
indicates, of several fine grasses mixed
in suitable proportions.

The quantity of seed sown should be
in the proportion of at least fifty pounds
to the acre. The seed can not be sown
too thick, but if sown too light the work
must be done over again. The point is
to get a thick stand to withstand our
dry climate, and keep the lawn close
and preserved from bunching.

To make a fine, thick, velvety lawn,
the grass should be cut once a week, or
oftener, according to the season.

For heavy soil it is a good plan to
cart sand to mix with the top-dressing
of manure. Also, after the soil is ma-
nured and thoroughly stirred by repeat-
ed plowing and harrowing, and level-
ing, it should be heavily rolled down
before the seed is sown. Eemember,
that once well prepared and properly
seeded down, etc., a lawn is easily cared
for ever after. Blue Grass or Bed-
top makes the best lawn. All weeds
should be pulled out by hand until the
sward is firmly rooted. — Agriculturist.

THE GEMS OF SPBING.

There is no season of the year when
opening flowers occasion greater delight
than in early spring, after we have been
deprived for months of all out -door
bloomers. To secure them, we must
make preparations in autumn, if they
are not already provided for.

The early bulbs make the first bril-
liant display, among which are the
Snowdrops, Siberian Squills, the many-
colored Crocuses, Hyacinths, early Tu-
lips, etc. Beds of these Bulbs may be
set out till November, but they do bet-
ter if in position by the middle of Octo-
ber. Those which are half tender, like
the Hyacinth, must, of course, be cov-
ered on the approach of winter; and

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

313

the)r should also have perfect drainage,
and be separated from a wet, adhesive
soil. It is therefore best, where the
soil inclines to be heavy, to place a
small handful of coarse clean sand be-
neath each bulb at the time of setting.

Some of these bulbs are so hardy as
to endure and hold their places wher-
ever set. We have seen a striking ap-
pearance presented when the flowers of
the Crocus gemmed the surface of a
smooth grass lawn, the Crocus beds
having stood there before the ground
was seeded to grass ;( the blooming was
over before the lawn mower was used.

Nothing has a more beautiful appear-
ance in April than masses of the liquid-
blue flowers of the Siberian Squills
resting on the surface of a green lawn.

Many hardy annuals may be sown in
autumn, and will give a more certain
and much earlier bloom than from
spring sowing. All plants which are
seen coming up early in the spring from
the accidental dropping of the seed
from the plants which have ripened the
year before, are suitable for autumn
sowing. Among them may be named
Candytuft, Rocket Larkspurs, Sweet
Alyssum, Mignonette, Portulaca, in
light soil, and some of the Centaureas.
Perennials, sown early enough to make
a good growth before winter, will bloom
the following season, such as Digitalis,
Hollyhocks, Aquilegias, etc. Mr. Vick
says he has received flowers of the Pan-
sy from southern States, nearly four
inches in diameter, in winter, which
had been sown the previous autumn.
, . Herbaceous perennials, such as Pse-
onies, Campanulas, Larkspurs, Colum-
bines, etc., which have stood and in-
creased for many years, may be taken
up and divided at the roots, and then
reset for larger beds. These .will fol-
low the early bulbs, and precede the
annuals. The work should be done as

Vol. VI.— 21.

soon as the leaves die, and the new
plantings be slightly protected.

THE COEK THEE.

Several experiments have been made
with the Cork tree in various parts of
the State with considerable success.
There is a prospect that it will soon be
more extensively introduced, Sonntag
& Co. of this city having sent an order
to Spain for three thousand pounds of
seed, which will be distributed gratui-
tously to farmers throughout the State.
This valuable tree grows abundantly in
Spain, Portugal, and Italy, in thin,
rocky soil, and is very tenacious of life.
It is a species of Oak, with a soft and
elastic bark. When the tree is fifteen
years old the barking is commenced,
and may be repeated every eight or ten
years afterward, the crops improving
both in quality and quantity at each op-
eration. Trees thus barked, it is said,
will live 150 years. The cork is re-
moved from the trees in July and Au-
gust. This is done by making incisions
around the tree and longitudinally to
the root, when the pieces are easily de-
tached. These are then soaked in wa-
ter, pressed under heavy weights, dried
before the fire, and stacked or packed
in bales for transportation. The cork
cutters divide the sheets of cork into
narrow strips, and after cutting these
to a proper length, round them into a
cylindrical form with a very sharp thin-
bladed knife. Spanish black is made
from the parings of cork. Cork manu-
facturers in the Eastern States and Eu-
rope find a large market in California,
and the demand is increasing corre-
spondingly with our wine product. It
is said that a full-grown tree will yield
at each cutting the value of from $5 to
$6. In addition to the value of the
tree for commercial purposes, it makes

314

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

an excellent shade and good timber.
The latitude of San Francisco is the
same as the southern portion of Spain
and Portugal, the climate similar, and
the soil of the foot-hills of the Sierra is
not unlike the soil in which the tree
has been so successfully grown in the
Old World. "When the tree is once
firmly rooted in the ground no more
care and attention to it is needed than
with the Oak. In Spain large tracts of
land are devoted to its culture, and
each year a section only is stripped of
its bark, which insures an annual crop.
The experiment of transplanting the
Cork tree to our soil is well worth a
trial by the owners of large tracts of
unproductive land.

SHIPMENT OF FRUIT TO THE EAST.

There has left Stockton for New York
a shipment of fruit in the car construct-
ed on Allegretti's refrigerating patent
by the California Fruit Growers' Asso-
ciation. Three cars of this patent have
just been built in the workshops of the
Central Pacific Railroad Company at
Sacramento for the association above
named. The principle upon which they
are constructed is that of perfect insu-
lation. As described by the inventor,
the refrigerator car is really two cars,
one built inside the other, both lined
with galvanized iron. Ice is placed be-
tween the inner and outer cars, which
requires replenishing not oftener than
every four days. The inside car, which
contains the products, is ventilated from
the top, and the ventilator acts siphon-
like in carrying off the heated air, first
condensing it, and then discharging it
outside the car by its own weight. Mr.
Allegretti states that last year he carried
American peaches to England, and de-
livered them in a sound and perfect con-
dition. Some two months a?o a trial

shipment was made of California fruit
in a car built in New York for Mr. Alle-
gretti, and the success then resulting
induced the California Fruit Growers'
Association to build three cars on their
own account. With this class of cars
it will not be necessary to send fruit or
other perishable products East by fast
passenger train, but they will go as or-
dinary freight, occupying fifteen days
between San Francisco and New York.
The cost of transportation will be thus
materially lessened. If the new cars
ordered by the California Association
will answer all the purposes intended, a
new era will be opened for the fruit and
vegetable growers and sheepmen of the
State. If the articles sent by the re-
frigerator can be delivered in Chicago,
Cincinnati, New York, and St. Louis,
almost as fresh as when they left Cali-
fornia, we^shall have all the large East-
ern markets at our doors. To the pro-
ducers of California it will be better
than stock in the bonanza mines. They
will have a market for early strawber-
ries, early vegetables of all kinds, and
spring lamb, all of which command
fabulous rates in New York. The fish-
ermen will also be able to use them for
their salmon shipments. Instead of
depending on the consumption of 700,-
000 people in California, practically a
very considerable portion of the United
States will be thrown open. Upon the
doctrine contained in the old adage,
that what keeps out the heat will keep
out the cold, Mr. Allegretti affirms that
he can carry food or other articles in
his cars for twenty days, with the ther-
mometer on the outside below zero,
without freezing them. If this be so,
the invention may prove of the utmost
advantage to the orange growers of Los
Angeles and San Bernardino. The or-
anges and lemons in these counties are
gathered in the months of January, Feb-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

315

ruary, and March, just at the time when
the coldest weather is experienced in
crossing the continent. The fear has
been expressed that the orange growers
may not be able to utilize the railroad
connection made by the Central and
Southern Pacific Railroads in the ship-
ment of their oranges East, because of
freezing them in their transcontinental
journey; but if Mr. Allegretti's cars an-
swer all he represents, the oranges,
lemons, and other semi-tropical fruits
may be shipped to the Eastern States
with impunity in the coldest weather.
The shipment from Stockton consisted
of grapes, strawberries, pomegranates,
figs, etc. It was made under the direc-
tion of W. B. West, of Stockton, man-
ager of the California Fruit Growers'
Association.

ALARMING CHERRY TREE DISEASE.

Several Cherry orchards about San
Jose have, within the last two or three
years, showed the presence of some dis-
ease which has alarmed and puzzled the
orchardists not a little. The trees, one
by one, in places in the orchard, would
commence dying at the top. The top-
most limbs would die first, and so on
down, until in some cases the entire
tree would die. In others, after a few
of the main limbs died, the trees would
take a new growth from the bottom
limbs and show signs of recovery. "We
have visited several orchards and under-
taken to ascertain the cause. None of
the orchardists could account for the
trouble. There were no signs of insect
stings or poison in the diseased parts.
Some thought the hot sun had scalded
the upper limbs, which were apparently
not sufficiently supplied with the circu-
lating sap of the tree. We concluded
that the trouble must be somewhere in
the root, as we knew that a disease of

the root would affect trees in just this
way. Cherry, Orange, and some other
trees, growing in soil with a heavy, wet,
stagnant subsoil, have been known to
suffer from rotting of the lower roots,
which the trees would first show signs
of in the top, just as these Cherry trees
do that are affected. But in this case
the Cherry trees are growing in high,
light, well drained soil.

We had an idea that a bed of gravel
might underlie the surface soil a few
feet down, and that the roots running
into this might become affected by a
dry fungoid rot. So, after due consid-
eration, we went into Judge Archer's
orchard, and with his man spent half a
day with spades hunting for the cause.
We first ascertained that the trouble
was not in the subsoil, but after a care-
ful search about the crown of the roots
and trunk, we found that every tree
which showed signs of disease had been
gnawed by gophers. A little gnawing
about the roots would cause a slight af-
fection at the top of the tree, and trees
two -thirds or three-quarters girdled
about the roots would be diseased in
like proportion. The gophers do not
gnaw the roots off, but girdle close
about the trunk where the roots branch
from it. Several trees which we found
dead were entirely girdled. A number
of trees showing signs of recovery had
been gnawed last year or the year be-
fore, and not any this season.

Cherry trees are too valuable to be
damaged or lost in this manner. Fair-
sized trees will yield in value from $20
to $50 each season to the tree. Now
that the cause is positively known and
the mystery dispelled, we trust that the
proper means will be at once taken to
destroy the gophers. A few hundred
dollars spent for traps and poison and
labor will pay the biggest kind of a per
cent, by saving valuable trees from fur-

316

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

tlier damage and destruction by these
annoying" pests.

Every grower of Cherry trees knows
how damaging to a tree is a large wound
of any kind. The removal of a large
limb may, by the exuding of gum, cause
the death of the tree. The gum ex-
udes badly at the roots where the go-
phers gnaw away the bark, but the dirt
acts as an absorbent and has a curative
effect. A Cherry tree may recover from
some gnawing, but can not stand much
without severe injury. Nothing less
than the complete extermination of all
gophers in orchards should satisfy. —
Gal. Agriculturist.

AMONG THE BOSES.

One of the most successful Rose rais-
ers we ever knew was the late Charles
J. "Wistar, of German town. He took
half ripe wood of Roses, and Rose wood
is half ripe just about the time the flow-
ers are fading — and he would put them
in pots of sand — the sand full to the
brim, and even rounded. These pots
were set on his garden walk — a gravel
walk — in the open broiling sun, and well
watered every day — we are not sure
but they had water several times a day
— for the good old man spent most of
his old days in his garden, and, if we
are not mistaken, they had saucers of
water under them besides. At any
rate, every cutting always grew ; and
we can imagine nothing more simple or
suited to the wants of " floral babies."
And, speaking of Roses, we may add
that toward the end of June propaga-
tion of Roses, by budding, commences.
This is very commonly employed with
the Rose ; but ornamental shrubs and
trees may be increased in the same
way. Closely allied species must be
chosen to work together.

The Prairie Roses have been found

excellent stocks. Other Roses take
well on them, and they do not sucker
much. It is old, very hardy, and it
promises to be a very popular stock for
rare Roses.

The Rose bugs are apt to be very an-
noying at some seasons. The best rem-
edy is to shake them off into a pail of
water. The Rose slug is often very in-
jurious to the leaves, completely skele-
tonizing them. All kinds of rapid rem-
edies have been proposed — whale oil,
soap, petroleum, etc., — but the best
thing of all is to set a boy to crush
them with finger and thumb. It is as-
tonishing how rapidly they are destroy-
ed by this process. This is true of
most of the larger insects. Hand pick-
ing or crushing is by far the best reme-

dy.

Peg down Roses where a heavy mass
of Roses is desired. The side shoots
push more freely for this treatment.

Cut off the flowers of Roses as they
fade ; the second crop will be much
better for the attention. Seeds of all
flowering plants should also be taken
off ; all this assists the duration of the
blooming season.

Propagation by layering may be per-
formed any time when strong, vigorous
growing shoots can be had. Any plant
can be propagated by layers. Many
can be readily propagated no other
way. Cut a notch on the upper side
of the shoot, not below, as all the books
recommend, and bend down into and
cover with rich soil. In a few weeks
they root, and can be removed from
their parents. Stakes for plants should
be charred at the ends before using,
when they will last for years.

Flower beds should be hoed and
raked as soon as the ground dries after
a rain. Loose surface soil prevents the
under stratum drying out. Peg down
bedding plants where practicable.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

317

Split twigs make the best pegs. In
dry weather do not water flower beds
often ; but do it thoroughly when done.
See that the water does not run off, but
into and through the soil. — Gardener's
Monthly.

ROCKWORK.

The rockwork at Kew is a great point
of interest to lovers of alpine and her-
baceous plants, many of the most rare
and choice in cultivation being here ex-
hibited. Arnebia echwides is quite es-
tablished, and has flowered for the sec-
ond time this season. Meconopsis Wal-
lichii still continues to bloom, and
though not of so splendid a blue as was
anticipated, is one of the most note-
worthy of recent re-introductions. M.
nepalensis has just flowered for the first
time in cultivation, and proves a hand-
some species. Its flowers are yellow.
Berkheya (Stoboea) purpurea, a fine South
African Thistle, with flowers that have
been compared to a single Dahlia, is in
fine condition. It was introduced by
W. W. Saunders, Esq., and is yet found
in few gardens. The flower-heads are
four inches in diameter, and of wild
plants vary in color from deep violet or
purple to pure white; here they are
nearly white. It proves a perennial,
and having been in the same position
nearly three years, may be considered
hardy. Near this is a very charming
Oxalis, 0. enneaphylla, a native of the
Falkland Islands, newly introduced by
the Challenger expedition. It is very
compact, the leaves are silvery, and the
flowers white, of large size, all the
stems being slightly reddish. It is pe-
culiar from the leaves having five to
thirteen or even twenty leaflets. A
figure will shortly probably be publish-
ed in the Botanical Magazine. Syacin-
thus candicans, from the Cape, is ex-

tremely beautiful, and quite hardy. Its
flowers are pure white, and of immense
size. Liatris pumila is a very pretty
plant of stately habit, its spikes of lilac
flowers are nicely set off with grassy
recurving leaves. Allium pulchellum is
one of the most choice; its flowers and
stalks are rosy-lilac. Many hardy ter-
restrial Orchids are established in dif-
ferent parts of the Rockwork, including
a few elsewhere, about twenty species,
and in some instances have even great-
ly increased in strength. A pan of
Sarracenia fiava, fully exposed, has fin-
er pitchers than those grown indoors,
and this it will be of interest to mention
has never been under glas's, or favored
with other protection. The plants
came to hand in January, and have ever
since been in a similar position to the
present. Darlingtonia Calif ornica is do-
ing well under a bell-glass. Among
the more striking herbaceous plants
may be mentioned Eryngium Duricei,
E. cceruleum, and E. giganteum, Adeno-
phora latifolia, Leuzea salina, a hand-
some yellow-flowered Thistle ; Onopor-
don tauricum, and 0. Alexandrinum are
purple Thistles of great beauty ; Cen-
taurea atropurpurea is remarkable for
its fine maroon-colored flowers ; Echi-
nops ruthenicus and persicus are worthy
of notice ; while among hardy aquatics,
Justicia pedunculala is of great interest,
if of minor beauty.

THE MOTH.

This little insect, so destructive in
our households, is known to naturalists
by the name of Tinea, and belongs to
the family of the lepidoptera, or scaly-
winged insects, of which it is the small-
est, the most beautiful, and the most
destructive. It is second cousin to the
canker worm, the apple worm, and the
turpentine moth, but among its aristo-

318

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

cratic and honorable relations is the
silk worm. The immediate family rel-
atives of the common moth ate the bee
moth, the carpet moth, the hair moth,
the grain moth, and the pack moth.
As soon as the egg laid by the mother
moth is hatched, straightway the tiny
worm proceeding from it begins to
feed upon the fabric ._ to which it is fas-
tened, and then spins itself a cocoon, in
which it moves freely and unseen, and
from which emerges in due time a but-
terfly. In May or June these winged
insects deposit their eggs. Before this
time everything they can harm should
be placed beyond their reach. Before
putting away fur and woolen goods
they should be thoroughly beaten to
dislodge any eggs that may have been
deposited on them, and exposed to the
sun and air for hours. It is said that
brushing over their retreats with tur-
pentine will dislodge them, that cam-
phor, black pepper, tobacco, shavings
of Russia leather, will disgust them,
that camphor wood and cedar trunks
are free from their visitations, and that
corrosive sublimate washings, sulphur
fumigations, and the action of heat and
steam will destroy them. Prevention
is the best cure. If furs and woolens
are carefully sealed up in paper cases,
or put away in chests and trunks which
the moth -fly can not penetrate, they
are safe. Fabrics already attacked by
them should be beaten and sunned re-
peatedly, and the ravages will be check-
ed. This little insect loves darkness,
and hides its evil doings from the light
of day. To keep it from plush furni-
ture, twice a year, on a bright sunny
day, take the furniture out of doors,
remove the bottoms from the chairs if
they can be removed, and give the
cushions a good switching, with long,
pliable switches, till the dust is remov-
ed. Then brush them thoroughly.

"While the cushions are being sunned,
give the frames a coat of varnish. Let
the furniture remain in the sun nearly
all day.

OUE FKONTISPIECE.

Fuchsia (Tinted Venus). — The posi-
tion which this genus now occupies in
gardens of every description, and nota-
bly in our mild and genial climate, fully
exemplifies the estimation in which it
is held, and renders any extended eulo-
gy quite unnecessary. The name is a
compliment to the celebrated German
botanist Leonard Fuchs, author of
" Historia Stirpium," 1542. Fuchsias
are divisible into two classes, requiring
separate treatment, some being hardy
and some tender; but for our slope
this distinction is not so necessary to
observe as in severer climes. For the
high-colored varieties the soil can hard-
ly be too rich, but for the light-colored
varieties a moderately manured soil will
answer. The multitude of offsprings
from seed which are now cultivated, of
nearly every conceivable shade of col-
or, render it necessary that all produc-
tions of this highly valued and most
gracefully pendant flower should be
marked with some prominent distin-
guishing character, or they are little
better than worthless; consequently
this choice variety — Tinted Venus —
which is so large and delicate and beau-
tiful in its colors, is highly prized by
all lovers of floriculture. Nothing, in
our opinion, can surpass the beauty of
well-grown specimens of Fuchsias, and
to add to our recommendation of them,
we can state that they are of the easi-
est culture and of the speediest growth
from cuttings. They are rather the
better for having cool and partially
shaded situations.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

)19

CENTENNIAL NOTES.

Our lady correspondent has been so
much engaged otherwise that she has
so far had little time to devote to the
Horticultural section of the great Cen-
tennial Exhibition at Philadelphia.
She has had several partial glimpses at
the floral display, but it seems to be so
fine and on so grand a scale that she
has not yet attempted a systematic de-
scription even in the most modified
form. In a private note she alludes to
a visit to the Horticultural Hall to take
a view of the grounds, which she says
are beyond description. She says that
" Coleus of harmonizing colors are ar-
ranged in squares, oblongs, stars, etc.,
looking like so many handsome velvet
rugs spread on a floor of green, only
rugs were never made so thick and
handsome. The grounds are just per-
fect; everything is in full growth."
This is a good beginning, and we hope
to get more of it — in fact, we insist on
a speedy resumption and continuation
of the subject.

WORK FOR NOVEMBER.

The flower garden has its worst time
during November ; flowers are then be-
coming very scarce, and florists have
difficulty in procuring sufficient for their
customers, though every year this want
is becoming less and less, owing to new
plants being brought into notice, and a
more thorough knowledge being ob-
tained by those in the business, to sup-
ply the wants of flower amateurs.
Shrubs and trees should now receive a
thorough pruning. After the first rain
the ground should receive a good top-
dressing of manure, and after that a
thorough spading. "Whatever is to be
transplanted should be done at this
time.

Dahlias are better out of the ground,
and stored away in a dry, cool room.

Greenhouse plants should be water-
ed carefully. Gardeners and others
are apt to give too much water during
the fall and winter months.

Cinerarias, Cyclamens, and Chinese
Primroses should receive the attention
of florists, in order to have them in
bloom at the beginning of January.
The best place for them is close under
glass. Cinerarias may have plenty of
water, if a warm and sunny exposure
can be given. Primroses and Cycla-
mens do better in a partially shaded
position.

Camellias require abundance of water
as their flowering season approaches.

All kinds of seeds of greenhouse
plants and evergreens may be sown in
boxes and pots as soon as they ripen.
It is much better for seeds to be put in
the ground than to lie upon the shelves,
especially as without resorting to artifi-
cial heat, the autumn and winter
months with us are generally more fa-
vorable for the germination of seeds
under glass.

Hyacinths can safely be planted for
greenhouse and window culture. Aft-
er potting, place them in a dark room
for a week or two, and allow them to
form roots before the leaves make their
appearance.

The vines in graperies must be kept
very dry and airy.

WOODWARD'S GARDENS.

This ever favorite and always improv-
ing place of public resort has recently
received many new touches of beauty
and ornament, with additions and re-
newal in all its interesting departments.
The wonderful marine and fresh-water
objects of icthyological life in the well-
kept aquarium always draw toward the

320

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUKIST.

cool precincts and cavernous recesses
the curious visitor. The tanks are well
supplied with its ocean, lake, and river
inhabitants, which are kept in good
health and beautiful complexion, expe-
rience having taught the manager what
is best to keep them in a lively and
prosperous condition. All the objects
illustrating Natural History, in the va-
rious cabinets, in the choice and rare
trees, shrubs, and flowers in the gar-
den, the fernery, and in the conserva-
tories, as well as in this excellent aqua-
rium, tend to inform and educate the
people, and the enterprising proprietor
of these Gardens is accomplishing very
much, and has done so for years, in
this respect. To appreciate either Na-
ture or Art, the mind requires a special
education, without which the eye and
ear perceive but little of the miracles
passing before them. When, however,
the language of Nature is learned, and
her voice is no longer a confused mur-
mur to the ear, but becomes a brilliant
series of eloquent words, full of deep
and exquisite meaning, then the stu-
dent will see as well as hear ; but till
then, in his intercourse with Nature, he
is both deaf and blind. " Speak," said
Socrates to a youth ; "say something,
that I may see you." Socrates could
not see a silent man ; and those who
do not hear and understand Nature's
language, can not see her wondrous
beauty. In speaking of this choice
aquarium, especially, in these variously
and richly furnished Gardens, we will
observe in concluding our remarks,
that a popular knowledge of that branch
of natural history which especially con-
cerns the denizens of our seas, rivers,
and the objects on their shores, is in-
deed of a very recent date. The sub-
ject, in fact, is but only lately begin-
ning to develop itself in the aquari-
ums now found in many parts of the

world, and beneath the pens of an en-
terprising band of marine and fresh-
water naturalists such as Harvey, John-
ston, and the indefatigable Gosse, whose
books, we are glad to see, are becom-
ing a good deal appreciated by the pub-
lic in both Eurojoe and the United
States.

CALIFOENIA FLOEA.

Dr. Kellogg, Curator of Botany of
the Academy of Sciences, read a paper
before that Association descriptive of a
number of interesting specimens of
plants found in this State. Among the
more important, he noticed a species of
Phacelia, discovered by Samuel Bran-
nan, Jr., in 1871, on the summit of Gran-
ite Mountain, Kern County. Ithasapur-
ple-blue flower, and is very ornamental.
As it is a new plant it is proposed to
name it Phacelia Brannani.

A new species of wild Pea, Lathyrus
macrocarinatas, found by Mr. Hutch-
ings in Southern California, was de- .
scribed. Also, a species of Pea, found
by Mr. McClean, a student of the Uni-
versity, on Mount Tamalpias. It has a *
dense habit, and is a singular plant,
but may possibly be a foreign one.

• A very beautiful Lupine ( Lupinus
sericatus) has been received from Miss
Anderson. Its flower is a purple-blue,
and it will be highly prized for orna-
mental purposes. It was found in Lake
County. The fruit is desired for culti-
vation, and specimens will be thankful-
ly received by the Academy.

A specimen of psoratea, from Dr.
Bahr, was noted. Also another spe-
cies of Phacelia, recently found among
a collection gathered many years ago
by Dr. Andrews. It proves to be a
new plant.

Mr. Henry Edwards, Vice-President
of the Academy, recently discoverd a

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

321

European species of Daisy, naturalized
at the foot of Tamalpais. It was re-
mote from any habitation, and it is
curious to speculate how the species
propagated itself to another continent.
There is a slight variation, but not
enough to make a new species. The
plant has been described for the ar-
chives of the Academy.

Dr. Kellogg recently found at Guad-
alupe mine, eight miles south-east of
San Jose, in Santa Clara County, a dis-
tinct species of Nemophila, a popular
plant for gardens, on account of its free
flowering habit and brilliant colors.
He also found the Calindrinia, a spe-
cies of Parsley, not much used in this
country, but prized by the French for
greens. It is sometimes termed the
" pink-eyed beauty."

A species of Sunflower, probably the
Helianthus Calif or nicus, has been found
in Owen's Valley, and travelers in that
region will confer a favor by collecting
and preserving specimens for the Acad-
emy, as it is desired to make a more ex-
tensive examination than has hither-
to been practicable. The farmers say
that this species has appeared since
their arrival in the valley, but it is pos-
sible they did not observe it growing
wild. It grows along irrigated borders
and cultivated fields. It is remarkable
for its great height, and the exuberance
of its flowers. It bears from three to
five hundred, and would be very orna-
mental for parks, where conspicuous
objects are desirable. Its stem is white
and smooth.

Tamalpais also furnishes another
species of the Musk plant. It has a
beautiful, dewy, crystalline appearance;
its flowers are large, but no musk odor
at all has been discovered, after careful
observation.

Some person has sent to the Acade-
my, without explanation, a very inter-

esting variety of the Violet, differing
from the common plant of the red-
woods.

IRON AND WIRE WORKS AND ORNA-
MENTATIONS.

Of late years, and remarkably so in
our young city, San Francisco, useful,
graceful, and beautiful articles manu-
factured in wire have become quite pre-
valent, and been much adopted in our
houses and gardens. The display of
the handsome works in the Fair fully
proves and illustrates these remarks.
The exhibit at the entrance of the Pa-
vilion garden, by Howard & Morse, of
fancy iron wire fencing, summer hous-
es, bird cages, etc., either galvanized
or painted, arid also the summer house
in the centre of the garden, made a very
attractive and effective display. The
fancy iron wire fencing is being much
adopted on the grounds of wealthy peo-
ple in the East, and large orders have
been sent to this firm from there, and it
is fully expected that our well-to-do
men and millionaires here will exten-
sively patronize it round their squares
in the city and their villas in the coun-
try. For garden seats and arbors where
rustic wood work would be appropriate,
those of metal work will be found of
the greatest value. The above firm
produce, as their exhibit shows, fine ex-
amples of artistic iron and wire work,
chairs in Gothic, vine-leaf and oak and
other patterns, at moderate prices and
of incomparable beauty. The obdurate
nature of the several metals used is en-
tirely overcome in the elegant traceries,
waving lines and light flowing scrolls
which adorn these admirable pieces of
furniture.

Perhaps the most useful of all their
metal adornments for gardens are the
arches and canopies of wire work for

322

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

spanning paths, or as affording proper
supjDorts for the growth of elegant
climbers. There can be nothing cheap-
er or more durable, while the elegance
of these ornaments, when covered with
fine climbing masses (such as our Cali-
fornia climate can produce), of Staun-
tonia, or the verdurous tendrils of Astro-
lobium nithon, or even common Ivy,
with many other like things, is unmatch-
ed. The canopies are suitable for plants
of less rapid growth, and are in them-
selves elegant structures, though of
course still more so when skillfully cov-
ered with the tendrils and blossoms of
suitable plants. We strongly commend
these structures to all lovers of the use-
ful and graceful in gardening. Trellis-
es fitted to pots and covered with climb-
ers make noble window and terrace or-
naments. The choice kinds of Tropcs-
olum or Nasturtium are among some of
the best plants for the purpose. To
carry them over the entire surface it is
necessary to watch the young shoots as
they make progress, and lead them reg-
ularly. Fine lead wire will be found
useful in all cases where creepers have
to be led over trellises. The thread-
like tendrils of the Tropceolum make
the best effect if trained over the inte-
rior of a sphere ; but for plants of stout-
er growth, such as the pyramidal Bell-
flower, a flat and somewhat fan-ghaped
design will be most suitable. Trellises
and wire work designs of light charac-
ter suit for such climbers as Passifiora
rhodochiton, Coboea scandens, Maurand-
yas, and Fuchsias of pendant habit.

"Where it is possible to make an or-
nament useful, or at least to appear
useful, it is always much more appro-
priate. Thus, the summer house or
arbor offers shade and a place of rest,
and hence should be placed in a spot
where rest will be most agreeable ;
where there is a good view is often ap-

propriately chosen as the site for an
invitation to halt and rest. Rustic ar-
bors may be shaded with fruit-trees,
vines, Currant, Cherry, and any other
bowery fruit-trees and shrubs. Ivy,
Clematis, Everlasting Pea, Yellow and
White Jasmine, Stauntonia, Virginian
Creeper, etc., are also useful and make
elegant screens.

Folding chairs are sometimes made
for gardens, so arranged that the back
folds down on the seat and keeps it al-
ways dry ; the visitor has to throw up
the back, when the seat is found dry
and well protected. from the effects of
the sun. This may be a hint for man-
ufacturers. We hope to see these wire
and iron works, so promotive of refined
taste in the public mind, well patroniz-
ed and adopted generally.

Mr. J. P. Bering, of 420 Sansome
Street, is agent for Messrs. Howard &
Morse, and his exhibit of wire goods at
the Pavilion was very fine, and com-
prised almost everything in that line
that could be called for, and was worthy
a close examination. Little more need
be said in regard to it, except that for
most uses in the garden where wire can
be adopted it is cheaper than wood; and
that this firm also manufacture brass,
copper, and iron wire-cloth, riddles,
coal and sand screens, iron and steel
locomotive spark wire-cloth, etc. This
cloth is well adapted to the purpose of
drying all kinds of fruit, etc., and
therefore the attention of all fruit rais-
ers is hereby directed to it.

THE MECHANICS' FAIK GAKDEN.

The following remarks on the Pavil-
ion Garden, which should have appear-
ed in our No. for September, is produc-
ed in this issue, being a graphic and
exhaustive description of that beautiful
adjunct to our industrial exhibition:

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

323

" A9 might have been expected by
all experienced horticulturists, for such
is the natural progress in this as in
most other arts, practice and experience
always leading toward perfection, the
horticultural department and grounds
of the exhibition have been much im-
proved in their preparation and arrange-
ment over those of last year. The
space is not large enough for any great
display of taste and laying out in what
is termed the English natural landscape
style of gardening, the more formal or
geometric fashion being adopted here.
Neither was there room for any striking
or imposing formation of rock - work,
and taste has not been violated by the
introduction of bowlder or stone pyra-
mids, plaster busts or figures, conch
shells, etc., under the general denomi-
nation of rock -work. But properly
treated, as the rockery is round the
Magic Fountain, in front of the rustic
arbor, and also on each side of the ar-
bor with the suitable plants intermin-
gled, it is a fine ornament, and to the
botanical student is something more —
it is a nidus for botanical curiosities,
for choice things that either will not
grow elsewhere, or, if they grow, are
not seen to advantage in such positions
as the rockery affords for placing them.
The Ferns exhibited by R. B. Wood-
ward and Miller & Sievers, near the en-
trance, are exceedingly attractive, com-
prising the choicest old as well as best
new specimens in that most interesting
department of horticulture. The Fern-
ery belongs to the truly rustic rather
than the rural part of gardening.
Though Ferns are beautiful anywhere,
and may suitably adorn the trim bor-
der, and mingle with the ornaments of
formal design, they are more at home,
more befitting among tree stumps,
and in boldly designed rock -work or
water scenery, where they appear in

their proper character of wildness and
simplicity. Ferns suggest and create
in us associations with the greenest and
coolest nooks in nature, mossy and old
banks above water brooks that trickle
from unseen founts, in the deep reces-
ses of wild, rocky caverns, and under
the branching arms of twisted grey-
beard Oaks and ancestral Elms, breath-
ings of fragrance from the green world
that sweeten the resting places in the
march of life. These two displays of
Ferns are of rare beauty, and form one
of the great features of the Fair. The
giant or tree and dwarf Ferns are es-
pecially charming, and remind us of
what must be their delightful and rich
luxuriance in the tropical regions.
The collections of variegated leaves and
tropical plants, by Miller & Sievers and
Woodward, are choice, various, and
some of them quite rare. The form-
er have a neat and pretty stand of
a variety of the Cacti, with some in
bloom. There are two tables of very
good specimens of Grapes, Apples,
Pears, Plums, Oranges, etc., showing
what the climate of California can do,
both as to large size and splendid col-
oring, and such samples can not be oth-
erwise than generally good in quality.
They are from John Crof ton's orchards
on the Sacramento River ; William
Barry's ranch (fine German Prunes), on
the same river ; Solomon Runyon, the
same; Chas. A. Baur, Eldorado or-
chard ; D. R. Hayes (very large Or-
anges), from Santa Barbara ; and Jesse
Cheney (immensely large and fine Bart-
lett Pears and Peaches), from Santa
Clara. Miller & Sievers have a table
of cut flowers of Dahlias, Roses, Ver-
benas, Gladiolus, etc. Such displays
as these are of flowers, ferns, exotics,
coleus, etc., and fruits, although un-
fortunately from some cause or other
(and we fear far from a praiseworthy

324

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

one), from but few exhibitors, can not
be overvalued by the public, and have
a strong tendency .to develop the aes-
thetic principles in them, especially as
% to the flowers, trees, and shrubs, also a
taste for the useful as well as the beau-
tiful in the productions of Pomona.
The handsome trellises, summer-hous-
es, and wire work designs at the en-
trance of the garden, from the Califor-
nia wire works, make a most ornament-
al display there on the upper terrace,
and the iron wire work of Howard &
Morse, in the centre of the garden, pro-
duce a very good effect."

FEUITS AND INSECTS.

0, the fruits, the fruits of California!
We can not refrain from speaking of
them again, and again, even at the risk
of being considered as exaggerating the
quantity, quality, and importance. As
to the first, especially this year, these
valuable and delicious productions of
Pomona are simply enormous here.
The plentiful rains last winter and
spring, the freedom from frost general-
ly, and the genial weather for their ma-
turing have made them large, if not gi-
gantic, (though their size is always
greater on this slope than eastward of
it), and their color, richness, and juici-
ness, with excellent flavor and qualities,
were never better, if so fine as this
year. It would take up too much space
to describe this orchard wealth sepa-
rately, but we can not resist describing a
few of these riches. Comparatively,
they seldom have in the Eastern States
a successful season for Apricots and
Nectarines, or even soft -shelled Al-
monds ; but here we never fail in some,
and many localities, although the frosts
will occasionally nip them or rather
their blossoms, in a few places on this
coast. These are the earliest fruits of

the year, and therefore most liable to
destruction, more or less, by late frosts.
The quality and variety of kinds in
these early fruits in this State are splen-
did, and until there are more markets
both here and in the East for these
Apricots and Nectarines, as well as later
fruits, and the refrigerator cars are still
more improved than they are at present,
and drying and canning become still
more advanced in their processes, there
must necessarily be low prices, and not
only this, vast quantities of these fruits
will be wasted or only fed to stock, and
the middlemen or consignees, rather
than almost give them away here, will,
as they sometimes do, actually dump
them into the bay, or cast them into
the gutters, which latter proceeding,
by the by, would be the best, for the
poor would then be apt to pick up some
for themselves and families.

Our Plums, so difficult to raise in
the Eastern States, owing to the unfail-
ing and unceasing attacks of the curcu-
lio, have presented this year one of the
most brilliant and attractive sights in
the fruit line that can possibly be con-
ceived. Every variety of the Plum
does splendidly in this region, and we
have numerous sorts under cultivation.
We were examining a box of Coe's
Golden Drop the other day, and for
size and richness of deep yellow with
their reddish mottled skins we hardly
ever beheld anything of the kind so
truly beautiful. And so with all the
other numerous varieties of this useful,
wholesome, and delicious fruit when
perfectly ripened. We find those rais-
ed on uplands are more juicy .(a most
desirable quality), than those cultivat-
ed on the lower lands, and this holds
good with nearly all our fruits in this
portion of the Union. A short time
since, when we were sojourning in Men-
docino County, on a trout-fishing ex-

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

325

cursion for two weeks, about 100 miles
north of this city, we visited one of the
orchards there — the trees were break-
ing down with their loads of fruit — and
we were surprised to find some clear
gum exuding from the skin of several
Yellow Egg Plums, showing that they
had been stung by some species of the
curculio, and, no doubt, an egg layed
there. Several of the insect pests of
the East are beginning to make their
appearance with us, and we have but
little doubt, from these late symptoms
in several parts of the State, that in
time we shall be nearly as badly off for
these enemies of tree, shrub, flower,
fruit, etc., as any other country, al-
though it is probable that the extreme
dryness of our summers may operate
somewhat against the perfect flourish-
ing of all the insect tribes. We regret,
also, to observe in some other fruits,
more especially the Pears, symptoms of
the attacks of worms, a fact which is
quite uncommon here, and which 'we
have not noticed until the present sea-
son. It has been the boast of Califor-
nia that whatever might be said about
the coarseness and lack of flavor in her
fruit, it was entirely without blemish of
any kind, and free from the attacks of
insects. If we are to be subjected to
the same annoyance and damage that
are experienced in Eastern orchards
and vineyards, from the ravages of in-
sects, it behooves our horticulturists to
take the most vigorous measures for the
protection of their fine fruits before the
attacks of insects, and all the ills that
they are heir to, shall have so diseased
the trees and vines, that perfect fruit
becomes the exception, rather than the
rule. But we fear it will be very diffi-
cult to check this insect advance, as
the little creatures can be eradicated
only by the greatest labor, care, and
watchfulness.

FEUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEE.

The general natural soil of California
being so good, most cultivators are not
liable to fall into the error of stimulat-
ing too much the growth of their fruit-
trees by over-enrichment of the soil with
great quantities of manure. This pro-
cess is especially objectionable to very
young trees. We have no doubt that
the time will come — indeed, in some
countries it has already arrived — when
manures will be so thoroughly analyz-
ed and classified, that they can be and
are employed just as a carpenter does
his tools, or the farmer his implements.
If we wish wood, we shall apply certain
ingredients to the soil and have it ; if
we wish fruit, we shall have at hand
manures which promote the fruiting
properties of the tree; if we want seed,
we shall have manures for it. But ma-
nures as now employed are usually not
beneficial to orchards of young trees.
A clay or adobe soil, very stiff and ad-
hesive, may require sand and vegetable
mold to render it permeable to the root,
besides, of course, much working or
disintegrating. Some very barren soils
may require some manure; but the av-
erage of our soils on this slope are rich
enough already, and almost too rich for
the good of the young trees. It would
be better for the orchard if it made less
wood and made it better. There is a
great evil in pruning too much. France
and England have often given us our
notions upon pruning. There, their
own system, no doubt, is wise, because
it conforms to their climate and soil.
But their system of pruning is almost
totally uncongenial with our seasons
and the habits of our trees. In Eng-
land, for instance, the Peach will not
ripen in open ground, except, perhaps,

326

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

in the extreme southern counties. In
consequence, it is trained upon walls,
and its wood thinned, to let light and
heat upon every part of it. It is quite
right to husband light and heat when
it is scarce, and by opening the head of
a tree to carry them to all parts of the
sluggish wood. But we have often
more than we want. A Peach with us
will ripen upon the lowest limb and in-
side of the tree, by the mere heat of
the atmosphere. Even in New Eng-
land's cool and short summer climate
the English system of pruning proves
too free. Manning says: "From the
strong growth of fruit-trees in our
country, and the dryness of its atmos-
phere, severe pruning is less necessary
here than in England." We are not
now giving rules for pruning, having at
times done this before in the Horti-
culturist— but cautions against prun-
ing too freely. There is not a single
point in fruit cultivation, we think,
where more mistakes are committed
than in pruning.

With regard to the selection of trees
from the nursery, they are often chosen
upon a bad principle. Men are very
naturally in a hurry to see their or-
chards in bearing ; precocious trees,
therefore, and all means of prematurity
are sought.

With respect to the Pear, it is the
popular but incorrect opinion that it
takes half a man's lifetime to bring
them into plentiful fruiting. This, it
is true, is a good deal the case in the
Eastern States, but it is very much less
so in California, for the rapidity of
growth and fruiting of all trees is re-
markable and wonderful. However,
the principle we are advocating applies
somewhat even in this State. Many
farmers judge of a tree as they would
Timothy grass. A short-jointed, com-
pact branch is " stunted ;'' but a long,

plump limb, like a water shoot, or a
Lombardy Poplar branch, -is admired
as a first -rate growth. Some Pears
have but this single virtue: they make
wood in capital quantities, but very
poor Pears. Now, our selection must
proceed on different principles if our
orchards are to be durable and healthy.
We should mark for selection Pears de-
scribed by the nurserymen as "of a
compact habit, growth slow and healthy,
ripens its wood early and thoroughly."
A tree which runs far into the fall, and
makes quantities of wood, more than it
can thoroughly ripen, must be regarded
as unsafe and undesirable. Not that
the wood is in danger in this fine cli-
mate of being hurt by any frost, but
because the nature of the growth of
such trees is the formation of too much
wood instead of fruit.

It is too much the practice with nur-
serymen to force their trees by cultiva-
tion and by pruning. It is very well
known, to those conversant in the nur-
sery business, that great growers and
early growers are the favorites (and, so
far as an expeditious preparation of
stock for sale is concerned, justly), that
slow and tedious growers are put upon
rampant growing stocks to quicken
them. In some cases manures are ap-
plied to the soil, as directed by all wri-
ters who teach how to prepare soil for
a nursery. But such writers had their
eye upon such a climate and soil as
those of New England, and not of Cal-
ifornia. The still more vicious habit
of side trimming and free pruning is
followed, which forces the tree to pro-
duce a great deal of wood, rather than
to ripen well a little. A well-informed
nurseryman ought not to look so much
at the length of his trees as to the qual-
ity of their wood. The very beau ideal
of a fruit-tree for our climate is one
that, while it is hardy enough to grow

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

327

steadily in cool seasons, is not excitable
enough to grow too rampantly in warm
ones, and which completes its growth
early in the season, and ripens its wood
thoroughly. Such trees may be easily
had by skillful breeding.

At the beginning of this month (Oc-
tober) the fruit market was still sup-
plied with Grapes and Apples in the
greatest abundance. Choice eating
Pears, however, were scarce, for the
reason that the Seckel and Bartlett
had about disappeared, and that high
and excellent flavored Pear the Winter
Nelis was still unripe. The best Pear
in market at that time was the Duchess
d'Angouleme. Cooking Pears and com-
mon Apples could be obtained at almost
any price — say, 50c. to 75c. by the sin-
gle box. Good Apples sold at $1 to
$1.50, and good Pears at $1.50 to $2 by
the single box, delivered. The princi-
pal varieties of Grapes retailed as fol-
lows: Sweetwater, Chasselas and Mis-
sion, 4c. to 6c; Black Hamburg, Rose
of Peru, and Black Malvoisie, 6c; Mus-
cat of Alexandria, 5c. to 8c; Flaming
and White Tokay, 6c to 8c; Black
Morocco, 10c to 12Jc; Purple Damas-
cus and Olivita, 12-Jc per lb.

The market may be said at the time
of issuing our paper to be replete with
all kinds of stock belonging to the sea-
son, and prices of some kind, however
low, were offered and generally receiv-
ed by the sellers. We observed on
some of the stalls the Prickly Pear in
small numbers. Strawberries are com-
ing in in goodly numbers, with prices
suitable to the season, and which, of
course, must be higher than the spring
and summer fruit.

The prices of vegetables are: Cab-
bages, 50c per ctl.; Cucumbers, 37Jc.
to 60c per box; Tomatoes, 25c to 50c
per box; Green Corn, 10c to 18c per
doz. ; Marrowfat Squash, §8 to §10 per

ton; Green Peas, 2^c to 3c per lb.;
Sweet Peas, 2|c to 3c per lb. ; String
Beans, l£c. to 2^c per lb.; Chile Pep-
pers, 50c to 75c per box; Garlic, 2c.
to 2^c per lb.; Okra, 6c to 7c; Egg
Plant, §1.25 per box. A few days
since Bananas were being sold in the
streets by the wagon load at 25c per
dozen.

CATALOGUES EECEIYED.

We find in our advertising pages this
month a handsomely got up, extensive
general and descriptive catalogue, from
the Exotic Gardens and Conservatories
of Miller, Sievers & Co., of new and
rare plants, trees and shrubs, seeds and
bulbs. The nursery and seed store of
this well known firm is located on Mis-
sion Street, between Thirteenth and
Fourteenth Streets, opposite Wood-
ward's Gardens, in this city.

We have received also " The Centen-
nial Descriptive Catalogue for 1876-7
of Tulips, Hyacinths, Crocuses, Lilies,
and other Spring - flowering Bulbs,
etc.," from F. K. Phoenix, Blooming-
ton, 111. Also, his wholesale price list
for the above years.

From I. H. Simpson, Yincennes,
Knox County, Indiana, proprietor of
the Knox Nurseries: " Wholesale Price
List of General Nursery Stock, Green-
house Plants, etc, for the Fall of 1876
and 1877." ,

From E. Moody & Sons, Lockport,
N. Y.: " Semi-annual Wholesale Trade
List of the Niagara Nurseries for the
Fall of 1876 and Spring of 1877."

From A. Bryant, Jr., Princeton, 111. :
" Wholesale Price List of Nurseries for
the Fall of 1876 (for Dealers and Nur-
serymen only)."

Price List of the Illinois Pottery Co.,
I. Kuhles, President, Chicago, 111.

From R. S. Johnston, Stockiey, Del. :

328

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTUBIST.

" Wholesale Price List of Nursery
Plants at the Sussex Nurseries, Fall,
1876, and Spring, 1877."

Early York Cabbage. — Last March I
planted Early York Cabbage, and in
June had heads ready for eating. Aft-
er cutting off the heads fresh sprouts
started from the roots. I trimmed them
all off except one, and now (October 1)
have a second crop, specimens of which
I send you. They are beautiful for
salad. — A. Honcharenko, Ukraina, Gal.

The Ginger Plant. — How delightful
it is to observe business men take pleas-
ure personally in floriculture. This
taste we had the gratification of seeing
in the garden and conservatories of W.
F. Babcock, Esq., among the pleasant
residences on Bincon Hill. Here we
saw in Mr. B.'s greenhouse some very-
fine plants of the Ginger (Zingiber offi-
cinale), of the family Scitamince. The
root is a rhizome, similar to that of the
flag; it is perennial, but the leaves are
annual. Some of the plants were eight
feet high, nearly touching the roof of
the house. The mode of growth of this
curious flower is very peculiar, and also
the horizontal growth of the base, from
which spring the main vertical stems.
The color of the flowers is a very pale
yellow. Some species are of a deep yel-
low, and others tinted with red. But
perhaps the most valuable quality of
these wonderfully vegetating plants and
flowers is the delicious aroma of the
latter, which is somewhat similar to the
rich scent of the white Cape Jasmine,
and which completely fills the conser-
vatory. One truss of its flowers will
perfume a whole suite of apartments.
Mr. B. has a large variety of fine plants
in his garden and conservatories, and
has lately added a new garden to his
rather extensive premises, which look

already very well as to turf and flower-
ing plants, though only commenced last
July.

The Polyanthus Narcissus. — The gen-
eral experience with this beautiful
spring flower is that the bulbs should
be lifted as soon as the leaves turn yel-
low, and kept in a dry cool place until
October, for if they are suffered to re-
main in the ground all summer, they
are apt to start into growth again in the
autumn, which injures them for spring
blooming.

NEW MUSIC EECEIVED.

From F. W. Helmick, Cincinnati, Ohio.

"What did he say to you? " Ballad. By
Jeannie I. Tanner. A beautiful ballad, the
music of which is simple and easily played,
on either piano or parlor organ.

" Angels hover o'er our Darling." Words by
Arthur L. Fanshaw. Music by Geo. Hast-
ings^ .

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,

Foe the Month ending Septeheeb 30, 1876.
(Prepared for The Hobticultukist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
18 Market Street.)

BABOMETEB.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.05 in.

do 12 m 30.05

do 3p..m 30.04

do 6p.m 30.03

Highest point on the 21st at 3 p. m 30.14

Lowest point on the 27th at 6 p. m 29.92

THEEMOilETEB.
( With north exposure and free from refected heat.)

Mean height at 9 a. m 63°

do 12 m 69°

do 3 p. m 68°

do 6 p. m 62°

Highest point on the 25th at 12 m 86c

Lowest point on the 2d and 20th at 6 P. m 58°

SELF - EEGISTEEING THEBMOMETEE.

Mean height during the night 50°

Highest point at sunrise on the 25th 54°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 10th 45°

WINDS.
South-east and south-west on 18 days ; west on 12
days ; south-east on 2 days.

WEATHEE.

Clear all day 14 days; cloudy all day 5 days; variable
on 11 days; rain on 3 days.

BAIN GAUGE. Inch.

4th 0.12

29th 0.12

30th 0.02

Total 0.2G

Previously reported 0.03

Total up to date 0.29

&BXB28&BS*

KegraTed and Trlnted in Colore by Geo. Fraoenberger, Rochester ,\'.l'.

For description see page 1 4.

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI. SAN FRANCISCO, NOVEMBER, 1876. No. 11.

CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM.

BY E. J. HOOPEB.

The varieties of this attractive flower
are well known, but not as much ap-
preciated as they should be. This is
surprising, when it is considered that
they are not only easy of cultivation,
but that they form a great addition to
the beauties of the flower garden in the
latest months in autumn, when there is
somewhat of a scarcity of flowers, even
in our florally favored California.

The culture of the Chrysanthemum,
even at the present time, strongly re-
sembles what a late writer tells us of
the practice of the Chinese ; as it is
found that it is apt to degenerate if not
frequently renewed from cuttings, or
transplanted. The soil most suitable for
them is a light rich loam and decayed
manure, in the proportion of two parts
of the former to one of the latter. The
cuttings should be made in the winter
or spring in this climate, and they will
flower the same year. They may be
either grown in pots through the sum-
mer, or planted in the ground, and ta-
ken up and potted in September or Oc-
tober. When grown in pots they will
require to be shifted two or three times

Vol. VI.- 22.

during their growth, and by the end of
August they should be finally shifted
into the pots in which they are to flow-
er. They require, at all times during
their growths, a good supply of water ;
and in our dry summers, when the fo-
liage droops, they are much benefited
by being sprinkled all over with water,
sometimes as often as three times a day.
In August, those in pots should be
watered with soap suds or manure-wa-
ter once a week, and this should be
continued until they come in flower,
which will be about the commencement
of our rainy season. If planted in the
ground they should have an open situ-
ation, and be allowed sufficient room,
so as not to interfere with each other
while growing, and be tied up to sticks
as they advance. They need not be
taken up from the open ground at any
time in our mild climate, as we have
hardly ever enough frost to injure them
much. But in removing them they
should have balls of earth at their roots,
and placed in proper sized pots, if that
should be desired for any purpose.
"When in flower give them plenty of wa-
ter ; and when they have done flower-
ing they may be trimmed a little, if too
straggling in their branches. Then our

330

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

rainy season will keep them in good
health and condition, until they require
water during our long drought in sum-
mer and part of the fall.

WATERING.

BY A GABDENEE.

Injudicious watering does more in-
jury to plants in rooms and conserva-
tories than most persons imagine, as
plants suffer from too much water as
well as too little. Many persons think
that they need water every day, and al-
most the more they give the better.
Others, being very cautious, will scarce-
ly give them sufficient to sustain life.
When plants have had too much water,
the leaves turn dark and flabby, and
when too late they turn yellow, and fin-
ally drop off. The best plan is not to
water them till the soil in the pots ap-
pears dry, or their leaves droop, then
give them sufficient water to wet the
soil thoroughly down to the bottom of
the pot, and do not give them any more
till they become dry again. Pour the
water on the top of the pot, and let it
soak down to the roots, but do not let
it stand in the pans under the pots, for
it causes the roots to decay, and injures
them very much. Of course, this does
not apply in the case of aquatic plants,
and such as require a more plentiful
supply in the time of flowering. The
water for this purpose should not be
taken fresh from the pump, or pipes, or
cistern, in the winter season, or indeed
at any time in this city from the Water
Company's supply, but should stand in
the room a little while, or be a little
warmed to take off the chill. When
the weather is warm and dry, as it is in
our California summer, and the plants
in full flower, they will require water-
ing pretty freely every day, especially
such as are in small pots, and the pots

perhaps full of roots. Those in larger
pots, with more room for their roots,
will not require it so often. The best
time to water plants in summer is in
the evening, as they will have the night
to refresh themselves in ; and in the
winter season in the morning, that the
pots may be warmed in the sun, if pos-
sible, and they will not then be subject
to be chilled ; although in a room
warmed so that a regular heat is kept
up, it will make but little differ-
ence— they may be watered when most
convenient. As some plants evaporate
their moisture much sooner than others,
they will require watering more fre-
quently, which will be indicated by the
drooping of their leaves. In cloudy
or rainy weather they will not need so
much water, unless they are in the
house, or the soil is dry. Plants ac-
customed to the house should not be
set out in heavy rains in winter, or ear-
ly in spring, as the rains are sometimes
cold, and if they become saturated it
gives them a chill from which they are
some time in recovering ; but in a
warm rain they may be set out for an
hour or two, and then taken in again,
which will greatly refresh them, and
persons having only the house to keep
them in, will find them much benefitec
in warm weather by setting them oi
in the evening to receive dew, and tal
ing them into the house again in the
morning. Plants in warm rooms at al
times require to be kept a little moist,
though they need most water when
growing (which is nearly always in our
climate) and flowering.

THE CACTUS.

All the species of this tribe are desti-
tute of true leaves, except when they
are first beginning to grow. Just at
that time they do indeed produce little

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

331

succulent bodies, which we know to be
rudiments of leaves ; but such parts
drop off soon after they are born, and
the only representatives they leave be-
hind are the stiff hooked spines, with
which so many species are covered.
The parts which are mistaken for leaves
in the Indian Fig, or some of the more
common species of Cereus, are only the
flattened joints of the stem.

It would be difficult to find any race
of plants, where more obvious connec-
tion exists between the manner in which
they are constructed, and the situations
it is their destiny to live in. The great-
est number grow in hot, dry, rocky
places, where they are exposed- for
many months in the year to the fiercest
beams of a tropical or semi-tropical
sun, without a possibility of obtaining
from the parched and hardened soil
more than the most scanty supply of
necessary food. Under such circum-
stances, plants of an ordinary structure
would perish ; but Cactuses have a spe-
cial power of resisting heat and drought,
and, like the camel, they carry with
them a supply of water for many, not
days, but months. It usually happens
that once a year, during several weeks
at least, the air that surrounds them is
saturated with rain or moisture, and
the soil they live in is drenched with
almost ceaseless rains. At this time
they grow fast, all the little cavities in
their tissue, of which there are count-
less millions, are filled with liquid nour-
ishment, and they may be literally said
to gorge themselves with food. Then,
when the rains cease, and the air dries
up, and the spirit of the desert reas-
sumes his withering dominion over this
climate, Cactuses are in their most ro-
bust health, and their cells are abund-
antly filled with provision against scar-
city. But these supplies would be
quickly consumed by plants only pro-

tected by a thin epidermis, and having
their surface pierced by millions of
breathing pores, all actively inhaling
the evaporable matter that lies beneath
them, and an early death would be the
inevitable result. Such, indeed, is the
lot of all the gay companions of the
Cactus, which surround it during the
season of feasting and prosperity, and
to which Nature has given no special
means of enduring the hardships to
which their lot exposes them. A few
days or weeks suffice to sweep their
forms from the face of creation; their
leaves rapidly consume the stores de-
posited in the stems ; their stems turn
in vain to the roots for a renewed sup-
ply, for after but a little while the arid
earth has nothing to part with, and
then the leaves wither and fall off, the
stems shrink up and crack with the
dry heat, and the roots themselves, in
many cases, follow the same fate.
"With Cactuses this is different ; they
have so tough and thick a hide, that
what liquid substances they contain,
can only pass through it in minute
quantities. The breathing pores of
their surface are comparatively few,
and so small as to act with extreme
slowness when the air is dry ; so that
in proportion to the aridity of the air,
and the heat to which such plants are
exposed, is their reluctance to part with
the food they contain. They digest
and redigest it with extreme slowness,
and may be truly said to live upon
themselves during all those months
when they can not feed upon the soil
or the atmosphere. Some of their flow-
ers are wonderfully curious and beauti-
ful, of the most brilliant colors of crim-
son and gold, pink and gold, and other
lovely shades. About May in this clime
they make a grand and gorgeous dis-
play, and many of them will do well all
the year out of doors in this mild cli-

332

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

mate. We have seen the flowers of
them as large as the crown of an ordi-
nary hat. Most of our nurserymen have
a fine assortment of these succulents
and Cacti.

THE VIOLET (VIOLA), AND ITS CULTI-
VATION.

The origin of the word Yiola is some-
what in obscurity it seems. But what-
ever be the derivation of its name, no
plants have been more celebrated in
song and story than those of this beau-
tiful genus.

" Violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes,
Or Cytherea's breath,"

have always been the poet's flowers,
and certainly their delicacy, beauty,
and perfume, render them worthy of
all that has been written and sung in
their praise. At this time in our city
they are becoming abundant, and they
last here a long time. In no city can
they be produced in greater abundance,
or be more moderate in price.

The Sweet Violet ( V. odorata) of sev-
eral varieties, and the Pansy or Hearts-
ease (V. tricolor), with its endless vari-
eties, have a place in every flower gar-
den, from the conservatory of the prince
and millionaire to the little patch of
the more humble citizen. The Sweet
Yiolet, which is doubtless the species
described by the ancients, is very wide-
ly diffused over the Eastern or Asiatic
Continent, being found in the British
Islands, all over Europe, and extend-
ing even through Asia to China and Ja-
pan, and to a great degree indigenous
to America. The most highly prized
varieties are the Russian and the Nea-
politan. The latter are pale blue, and
very fragrant, and flower during the
whole winter — either in the greenhouse
or out of doors, as the climate may be.

The Russian has a large flower and
leaf. The other species, or Pansy, may
be noticed here at the same time, and
from its being so great a favorite with
all florists and amateurs, receives the
very great attention it so justly deserves,
from its variety in colors and loveliness,
and is now made by careful selection of
imported seeds, and good culture, and
frequent renewal and replanting, to
produce very large and exquisitely
handsome flowers.

Should the expense of replanting the
Pansy be objected to, the plants may
be raised from seed in some box, which
should be placed in a warm and shel-
tered situation, and covered during cold
nights until the seeds are up. This is
especially advisable in San Francisco,
where for weeks during the year the
warmth of the sun is insufficient to
Stimulate the seeds, in which case they
decay. Seedsmen are often blamed for
furnishing bad seed, when they are en-
tirely innocent, as the best seed will
fail by lying too long in the ground.
The young seedlings when planted out
will soon make a good advance without
farther trouble. Seed sown in Sep-
tember will flower in spring; that sown
in February, during the summer; and
that in May, during the fall of the year.
Any very choice or pleasing variety of
Pansy may be preserved by sub-divid-
ing the old roots after flowering three
or four months; these sub - divisions
will root freely, and form vigorous
young plants, retaining the original
tints of the parent stock. The Pansy
freely propagates itself when once in-,
troduced into a suitable garden and lo-
cation, but the flowers of plants so ac-
quired will be inferior to those raised
as recommended. We see very few
gardens now without this lovely flower.

The common Violet is found wild in
many parts of the world, and the Pansy

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

333

is found to be a native of California.
In New England they have at least 12
well distinguished species, several of
which are worthy of mention. One,
particularly distinct from all others, is
the Pedate Violet (V. pedala). Contra-
ry to the usual habit of the genus, it
grows in dry, sandy soil. Its flowers
are large, and its root-stalk is very cu-
rious, appearing as if the lower part
were bitten off, and furnishing an ex-
cellent example of the premorse root.
The leaves are perfectly pedate, having
from five to nine lobes. Another large
and showy species, with yellow flowers,
is V. pubescens; and V. Canadensis, a
tall Violet, with white or light blue
petals with yellow bases, is considered
one of the most beautiful of the whole
genus. In Ohio and Kentucky, to our
own knowledge, there are at least five
varieties in the fields and virgin woods.
The smallest, most fragrant, and most
delicate of the Eastern native species is
V. blanda, whose sweet white flowers,
streaked with slender veins of blue, are
seen early in the spring near every
brookside.

The writer of this, forty years ago,
has many a time with his children col-
lected in the forests of Kentucky, op-
posite Cincinnati, these attractive and
humble plants, with many other wild
flowers, to transplant into his garden,
where most of them nourished excel-
lently well under the protection of a
little shade from various shrubs, al-
though some of them withstood well
the full glare of the sun's rays. "We
have often thought that the wild flow-
ers of every country do not receive that
attention by transplanting them into
our gardens, which the beauty of color
and form of many of them so richly
merit.

A " wild garden " might have a place
to itself in many collections, and would

constitute a curious, attractive, and in-
teresting department in the tout ensem-
ble of all grounds of a villa residence.

Wild flowers are rarely appreciated;
but little or no attention is bestowed
upon them. They bloom in forest and
field, and blush unseen to waste their
sweetness. Why are they not cultivat-
ed? Authority informs us that they
are susceptible of great improvement
by being " civilized," and not a few of
them are equal in beauty and odor to
any that have bestowed upon them
years of time. There seems a notion
that nothing is of value unless purchas-
ed from abroad at a large price. We
would not discourage the cultivation of
foreign plants and flowers, but would
encourage more attention to the wild
beauties indigenous to our soil and cli-
mate.

Cold Fish, — Gold fish may be kept
ten or twelve years (the average period
of existence) by using the following
precautions: Allow not more than one
fish to two quarts of water. Use the
same kind of water, whether well or
river; change it every other day in sum-
mer, and twice each week in winter.
Keep clean salt and pebbles at the bot-
tom, washing it occasionally, or re-
placing with a fresh supply. Use a
small net rather than the hand while
changing the water. Feed with crack-
ers, yolk of egg, lettuce, or flies, once
each week, except in cold weather; re-
move any crumbs that may remain on
the surface after feeding. Do not feed
at all from November to the end of
February, and but little during the fol-
lowing three months. If there are
growing plants in the aquarium, water
need be changed but rarely. Keep
from sun and in coolest part of room.
— Exchange.

334

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

§ a& and (&mx.

DEEK HUNTING AND TKOUT FISHING
IN MENDOCINO COUNTY.

We returned a few weeks ago from a
sporting trip up the north coast, right
amid the great redwood forests. The
locality is about one hundred miles
from this city, by steamer up the bay,
by rail through the Sonoma Valley, and
then stage for forty-seven miles to the
north fork of the Navarro River. The
brook trout (salmo irridea) are plentiful
for one to two miles either up or down
the river from the North Fork House,
which we made our headquarters. The
north fork is just the kind of stream we
take delight in for throwing the fly for
the speckled beauties. It is sufficient-
ly wide in its bed, which at that season
was partly dry and partly full of nice,
deep pools and lively riffles. It is broad
enough so that the trees and bushes on
the banks do not interfere with the cast-
ing line. Partly along this bed, and
partly along the shores, there is only a
single trail to follow to travel conveni-
ently up this stream. Gigantic red-
wood trees, a species of Cedar (Sequoia
sempervirens), rise on all sides, both on
the level and mountainous grounds,
making the scenery very grand, and al-
most awfully majestic, wild, and ro-
mantic. The scenes also are very lonely
and secluded, there being no habita-
tions of any kind for numbers of miles,

and near the North Fork House only
some logging camps, with large piles of
logs across the river in some parts, and
nearly dammiDg up the stream in many
other places. "While fishing we oft-
en saw deer feeding or running along
the sides of the hills and mountains,
when we longed to have our rifle with
us to bring them down at long range.
But two things can seldom be done well
at once, and a gun and fishing-rod can
not be operated with very pleasantly
together. The country we speak of is
full of deer, with many brown bears.
The signs and traces of which latter an-
imal we saw several times while return-
ing home on the trail. We used, occa-
sionally, to ride on horseback in this
path when we wished to go a consider-
able distance, either up or down this
north fork of the Navarro Eiver. If we
had met a bear there was very little
danger of his attacking us, as this spe-
cies of bear — the brown or cinnamon-
is, if anything, shyer than a deer, and
will as swiftly, nay, more so, rush away
from the presence of man. The fierce
and formidable grizzly is now quite
scarce in Mendocino County, where we
were fishing, but in the county north of
it it is rather common. They are often
very destructive to the farmers' calves,
hogs, and sheep, and when they are
committing these serious depredations,
a party of men will turn out, having
baited a particular spot, and surround

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

335

and shoot, ox* lasso, these ursine marau-
ders.

Two of our friends who accompanied
us on this expedition were engaged
chiefly in hunting deer, having each an
improved Winchester rifle. They found
it desperately hard traveling in these
redwood mountains and valleys, there
being in many parts a dense under-
brush. They joined a camping -out
party of expert hunters, and had a glo-
rious time of it on the borders of a for-
est, and some of what are termed " Bald
Hills." They killed twenty-five deer,
among the whole party of six, in eight
days. For our own part, not being
like our friends in our juvenile years,
we made ourselves quite happy and
contented fishing for that, next to the
salmon, gamest of fish, the brook trout.
Sometimes we could, early in the
morning or late in the evening, take
them with the fly, but in the middle of
the day when the sun shone too bright-
ly (the water being always very clear),
we used small pieces of chubs, trol-
ling them both on the top of the water
and beneath it in the pools, and which
were taken by the hungry and eager
fish with the greatest avidity. These
trout ran generally to about ten inches
in length, and afforded, from their num-
bers and gameness, some capital sport.
We had India-rubber wading -boots,
reaching up to our knees, with which
we could wade most pleasantly and con-
veniently over most of the shallow pla-
ces, and when the water was too deep,
we followed the trail by the side of
the stream. The weather was most
delightful during the whole time we so-
journed in these magnificent and sweet-
scented redwood forests. On our jour-
ney there we passed through a thunder-
storm, with a small tornado of wind and
rain, which latter continued at intervals
afterward, during the night ; but this is

very uncommon at that time of the year,
as the rainy season seldom commences
here till November, and as to thunder-
storms, they are very rare indeed on
this coast.

THE CALIFORNIA QUAIL.

Of the partridge family (Perdicidus)
we have seven well desci'ibed species
belonging to the United States, as fol-
lows: Quail, partridge, or Bob White
( Ortyx Virginianus) • plumed or mount-
ain quail {Ortyx P ictus) ; Texan quail
(Ortyx Texicus); California quail (Loph-
or/yx Californicus) ; Gambetta quail
{Lopliortyx Gambetti) ; scaled or blue
quail ( Cadepla Synamata ) ; Massena's
quail (Cyrtonix Massena).

At the head of this list is placed Bob
White, for the reason that he is the
only one of his family that can speak
for himself. He is not a quail, but a
partridge, and to designate him from
the rest of his kind, it has been settled
that he should always be known by his
proper and household name, Bob White.
In cunning, courage, strength of flight,
and for game and table qualities, he is
the peer of his race. It is not neces-
sary to write out his history, as every
true sportsman and naturalist in the
East has his acquaintance. Give him
the protection needed and there is nev-
er any lack of good quail shooting in
its season. Twice this bird has been
introduced into England, but he has
px'oved himself so pugnacious to the
larger English partridge, that it was
found necessary to exterminate him, so
that his cousin of the turnip field might
live and prosper.

Little is known comparatively yet of
the six remaining species of the par-
tridge family here, except, of course,
our plumed and California quails. As
they are both common in our markets.

336

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

and are much in request here for good
sport, their habits are now well under-
stood, though little has -been written on
the subject (although we intend doing
more so in the future), unless it be a
few scientific descriptions. Our Cali-
fornia quail, in size, averages less than
Bob White. He is very prolific, and,
when young enough, excellent for the
table — quail on toast being ranked
among our delicacies. He does not lay
for the dog near so well as the Eastern
or European kind. One may follow a
covey of them for half a mile, loading
and firing, but flushing but very few
birds ; if at times some of them, or the
entire bevy, happen to take wing, it is
only to alight for a moment under or
on some tree or bush on their route of
escape, and from thence sail off to the
first cover beyond. Those who are
fond of developing their pedal extremi-
ties, let them hunt down a flock of our
California quail. But we have them,
in portions of country suited to them,
in vast numbers, so that when one lot
of them has flown almost out of sight,
another is soon met with. Thus they
keep the sportsman pretty busy where
they are so numerous. We have seen
in Round Valley, Mendocino County,
as many as 150 or 200 in one flock. Of
course, these are many bevies together.

In addition to the beautiful plumage,
crest, and proportions of this much
sought bird, it possesses another quali-
ty, and that is its faculty for domestica-
tion. We have seen several hundred
of them at Suscol Orchards, Napa Val-
ley, come up to the house morning and
evening to be fed, and they have very
little fear of any person approaching
them within 60 or 80 feet. We have
known old birds to mate and breed in
confinement three months after capture.

The Mountain, or, as it is sometimes
called, the Highland quail, is a beauti-

ful and valuable game bird. There is
a similarity in its habits to those of the
ruffled grouse (Telrao umbellus). He is
larger than Bob White, and the most
elegantly plumed of the entire Ameri-
can partridge family.

The California quail is rather a hand-
somer bird than the Eastern one. The
male bird, particularly, is very pretty.
The crest of these birds is very singu-
lar and unlike any of the birds East,
being apparently composed of a single
feather rising about one inch and a
quarter on the head of the male, and
terminating in a curved top resembling
a nodding plume, or still more a writ-
ten note in music. The female has a
very small top-knot, not more than half
an inch in length, a miniature of the
male's crest. This singular crest is
moved at the will of the bird, which,
when alarmed, will often draw it down
horizontally, pointing forward. These
birds are generally fat and well flavored.

SALMON FISHING.

This month (November) we launch
into that most royal sport — salmon fish-
ing. We shall very soon, after the late
rains, find them running up the rivers
north .and south, but especially north
of this city. Trolling with a good sized
spoon-bait, from a boat or from shore,
according to locality, with a triangle of
moderately sized hooks at its end, with
a piece of red flannel or feather between
them and the spoon, is the most effect-
ive method at this season, using a some-
what stiff rod. The fly is almost en-
tirely useless in the fall or winter. A
good landing net will answer to secure
them, but a sharp gaff is better, because
your hooks are apt to be entangled in
the net work. A salmon of about five
or six pounds, or a grilse of one or two,
affords lively sport, with their dashing

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

337

to and fro, and often many leaps out of
the water.

But this boat fishing is rather tame
and easy work compared with hooking
and playing a large fish, and perhaps
in swift water from the bank, when you
have to follow him either up and down a
river, over rocks and bowlders, through
thickets, and sometime* through rather
deep water. This will often take hours,
and there is an instance recorded in
Scotland in the river Ness, where an
Englishman had a ten-hours' tussle with
a forty -pound salmon, but this is a
weight quite uncommon in our Califor-
nia streams, the average here being
about eight pounds. This forty-pound
salmon was hooked at about 6 p. nr.,
and although his captor was an accom-
plished piscator, he could not master
his rushes or get him to the grass. He,
however, with great determination and
skill, fought the fish for ten good hours,
and the greater part of those weary
hours during the darkness of the night.
It was not until ten o'clock the next
morning that the fish succeeded in get-
ting away, and then by an accident on
the part of the plucky angler. He de-
served his fish, and it is to be hoped he
soon hooked another, though of this we
are not informed, and if he did it was
very unlikely it was as large as this one.
"When you have anything like so po wer-
ful a fish on your line, if you have not a
very heavy rod, and very strong tackle,
the fish will do what he likes with you
if you are on land. A boat makes the
handling very much easier, even with a
much lighter rod and tackle, as you can
move the boat to correspond with the
fish's actions. To exemplify the case,
let any man hook a fresh run fifteen-
pound salmon, with a trout fly or sal-
mon roe for bait, fine tackle, and sin-
gle-handed trout rod, and see what you
can do with the fish. If he is a cool

and expert angler, and has plenty of
room, he may kill the salmon, but it
will be a work of time. At first he will
be as powerless as a child ; the fish will
go where he pleases — you dare not at-
tempt to stop him ; to do so would be
to instantly lose him ; you follow where
he leads, and for the time he hardly
heeds the restraint. At length, he be-
gins to know he is restrained, and his
fury commences. If you can make him
fight fast, and exert himself for some
minutes, you may get him a little weary,
and coax him near enough to get a gaff
into him ; but the chances are he sulks;
if so, you might have a long job before
you, as the gentleman above mention-
ed, and with the same result.

A big fish can not be restrained much
by force, and a forty -pound fish, or even
some smaller, on an ordinary rod and
tackle, must be gently handled to be
brought to gaff. The largest fish sulk
the most, and when they do rush, their
power is so great that it is all but im-
possible to resist them. All you can
do is to follow where they go, keeping
a steady strain on them down the stream.
The first object with a big fish is to ag-
gravate him ; play with him very light,
and he will often permit you to gently
guide him to some place where you
have directed your attendant or friend
to take his stand, gaff in hand. You
then gently drop the fish down the
stream to the gaff, and the fish is out of
the water before he has begun to fight
much ; if he is pricked by the gaff, or
frightened, then your work is cut out
for some time — you may not get anoth-
er chance for an hour. He will rush
when he ha3 strength, or a good chance
of breaking you, or he will get into
some eddy or hole and lie like a stone
— to move him is often impossible with
any safety. The boat trolling is the
easiest, but not so meritorious.

338

THE CALIFOENIA HOETICULTUEIST.

MutttX gltlirt^.

ROCKERIES.

Eockeries, as they are called, should
never be placed in narrow grounds or
in any grounds of limited extent. Not
unless they can be made to mingle, so
to speak, with other surroundings ; not
unless the beginning or ending can be
made to conceal their glaringly artificial
character, should they be placed in any
grounds whatever. There is nothing
which strikes the observer as so ludi-
crously spurious as an attempt to render
objects shapely and beautiful, that in
nature we behold only among the rud-
est, most rugged scenes. A rockery is
therefore never ornamental — nay, it is
never anything but a monument of un-
tutored taste, unless unstudied clumps
of vines, shrubs, or natural breaks or
hills, the banks of streamlets or of lakes
suggest at least the possibility of the
rocks in whole or in part having exist-
ed there in a state of nature.

For those, however, who do not agree
with us in these views — and that there
are those who do not is shown from the
many lugubrious mounds and circles of
rocks to be seen in the front gardens of
cities, villages, and country dwellings —
we desire to name a few plants which
we know to be well adapted to rocker-
ies, as well as to suggest a mode of con-
structing them that shall absorb the
rain and in a measure retain it for fu-
ture use instead of throwing it off,
forming cavities and ruts between the
rocks, washing away the surface soil
and exposing the roots of the plants —
while, except in long storms, the moist-
ure penetrates to an inconsiderable
depth and artificial watering is again
required in a day or so. A rockery may
be so constructed as to hold water as
well as the level earth — and either this
must be done or only those plants used

which do not mind drought. Such
plants, however, are generally those of
low stature and of a confined leafage
that are late in clothing the rocks with
a mass of verdure upon which in all
rock-works their attractiveness chiefly
depends.

As to construction — let us select flat
or flatfish stones as large as are avail-
able. These answer every purpose of
round or thick stones and allow of
greater contents. Besides, they are
more easily handled and fewer go fur-
ther. Mark out upon the surface of
the ground the outline desired, and set
the stones perpendicularly, or with the
tops inclining inward, on the broadest
edges so that the most acute shall point
upward. Let each stone overlap the
preceding one a little. These may be
held in place by sticks driven inside
for them to rest against. When we
have thus completed the first tier of
stones (let us suppose them to average
two feet in height), fill in over the aper-
tures and cracks between the stones or
lappings with matted grass, moss, old
carpets or oil-cloths, and then throw in
the soil (muck is excellent), making it
most compact against the moss or oth-
er lining and loosest toward the middle.
When we have filled in to the height of
eighteen inches, place the second tier
of stones (half the size of the first) so
far within as to allow a sufficient mar-
gin for the first tier of plants. Proceed
with the second and third as with the
first — not forgetting the lining — until
the last and highest surface has become
so narrowed as not to admit of another
tier, and the rockery is ready for the
plants.

It will be observed that, constructed
in this manner, the rain will freely
make its way through the more porous
middle soil instead of running off ; that
it will be held somewhat by the rubbish

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

339

lining which further acts as a non-con-
ductor to the heat from without, and
that a degree of moisture may in this
way be provided which removes at
least one of the foremost objections to
these, at best, objectionable structures,
viz., that with occasional watering they
need never dry out.

The surfaces of these rockeries before
they are covered with verdure or during
the cold months, however constructed,
are extremely unsightly. We know of
one instance, nevertheless, in which
this unsightliness has been in a degree
mitigated by the use of paint — paint
applied in the rudest manner. First
the surface was given a coat of drab,
and before drying was splashed, vein-
ed, and inosculated with black and
many colors. In a short time the
weather so bedims the garishness of the
coloring as to impart a natural appear-
ance, inducing many to ask in all sin-
cerity (as we have been assured),
" Where did you procure those rocks?"
Oil paint upon rocks in dry places will
endure for many years.

Let us plant in the earth close to the
base of the rocks, swift-growing vines.
Of these we should choose first the
Madeira or Mignonette Vine (Boussing-
aultia basseloides) — the tubers of which
may still and even later be obtained —
whose fresh, crisp leaves, branching
habit, and sweet blossoms, though
late, render it everywhere the most
prized of half-hardy vines. Next, the
plain Goboea scandens, which, for size
of leaf, affluence of flowers, and rapidi-
ty of growth is not — so far as we are
aware — equaled. Young potted plants
may be obtained of any florist up to the
first of July or later. Tropaeolums,
Thunbergias, Balloon Vines ( C'ardiosper-
mum halicacabum), Clematises, are well
adapted to our purpose. Among hardy
vines for the same purpose we may men-

tion the Honeysuckles (especially Loni-
cera Belgica and L. aurea reticulata),
Wisterias, the blue Passion Vine (Pas-
siflora ccerulea) which, however, is not
hardy — and Vitis heterophylla variegata,
one of the finest ornamental vines in
cultivation. The variegation of its leaf
— 'white, rose, and green — is beauty
enough, and its light-blue waxen ber-
ries that mature in the fall are a rare
and additional charm. The vines are
more or less killed by severe cold, but
the roots we have had never injured,
and its spring growth is so rapid that
the winter destruction of the top need
not be considered against it. We do
not. know of a prettier hardy vine or
one that thrives better in rockeries,
whether planted at the base or among
the rocks themselves.

Such hardy vines as Aristolochia, Ake-
bia, Tecoma, Periploca, Celastrus, etc.,
are not selected, because they seldom
make much growth the first season aft-
er transplanting, and, besides, are bet-
ter suited to greater heights and areas
than those of the rock-works of which
we are speaking.

For the pockets and crevices of the
rocks in the way of vines, we should se-
lect the Cypress Vine (Ipomcea quamoclit
vulgaris), in its three colors — white,
rose, and red. Cypress seeds well
soaked in boiling water and planted in
wet sandy earth exposed to the full
heat of the sun will, as we have before
stated, germinate in two or three days,
and, as they love heat, will soon over-
take those started earlier. Nothing is
prettier than their light, airy foliage, or
better adapted for our purpose. Pilo-
gyne suavis is of late introduction, and,
if judged from the engravings and com-
ments of those who offer it for sale,
would also prove satisfactory. Such
plants of a more or less vine nature
as Saxifraga sarmentosa, Tradescantias

340

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

(green, purple -variegated, white and
green), Sedum Sieboldi, plain and varie-
gated Sedum acre, Lysimachia nummu-
laria and L. n. aurea, Linaria cymbala-
ria, and the Vincus, need only to be
named.

For the marginal tiers we should use
Phlox subulata, Plumbago tarpentai and
capensis, a few Portulaca (these last may
be transplanted even in midsummer);
Polypodium vulgare, and other hardy
Ferns for the shady portion; Lobelia,
Panicum variegatum, Gnaphalium, Ko-
nigamaritima var., Aloe, and succulents,
such as Echeveria, Pachyphy-tum, Klenia,
3Iesemb?yanthemum cordifolium, and 31.
c. variegatum.

For the surface in the top of the
rockery, where the most striking speci-
mens should be employed, Agave, Beau-
carnea, Aspidistra, Cactus, Yucca, Dra-
ccena would prove effective, one, several
or all, according to the area to be plant-
ed.

Those who have " a good mind " to
arrange a rockery, can do so now as
well as at any time, and the above-men-
tioned plants may be easily obtained in
pots — thumped out in their respective
places, and know not of the change.

We are not willing to offer any great
encouragement to the erection of rock-
eries— the most nondescript things ever
introduced for garden ornamentation.
But for the many of different and pos-
sibly better tastes, we have told (so far
as space permits) what we know about
them. — Plural New Yorker.

HONEY PLANTS OF SOUTHEEN CALI-
FORNIA.

J. W. Sallee writes to the Anaheim
Gazette the following on honey plants :
You see here in this little valley a vari-
ety of shrub or weed which we call
" v>ilcl Alfalfa." It is very full of

bloom, a small yellow flower, and pro-
duces a great deal of the nicest honey.
And this rough grease-wood bush — see
what a pretty blossom it has! Bees
don't work much on this and these oth-
er large flowers you see, the cells being
too deep. But this shrub, with a bunch
of flowers on the ends of the twigs, of
various colors, we call wild Buckwheat;
it produces a great deal of nice honey.

You see over this mesa a large field of
white" Sage, just coming into bloom.
This is our brag honey plant. We will
secure a large amount of honey from
this plant. It will remain in bloom for
about seven or eight weeks. All that
white bloom you see on the sides of the
hills is Black Sage-bloom. It has been
out about four weeks, and will remain
in bloom two or three weeks longer,
and makes a quality of honey nearly as
nice as the White Sage. But at pres-
ent the bees prefer the wild Alfalfa.

You see all over the hills, and es-
pecially in these small valleys, those
clumps of bushes. That is the Sumach,
and will bloom in July, continuing for
six or eight weeks. It secretes a large
amount of honey, but of a red color.
Bees gather honey probably more rap-
idly from that than any other flower.
Now ta"ke a general view of the hills
and valleys; you see, probably, more
flowers than you ever beheld before at
one view. If there were 100 hives of
bees on every square mile of land, I
scarcely believe all the honey secreted
by these flowers would be gathered.
And to think of it all going to waste,
just for the want of gathering! It is
enough to make a man grow eloquent
to stand here on the top of this hill
and look at this beautiful mountain
scenery — the healthiest on earth — all
covered with beautiful flowers, stored
with the delicious nectar, and to think
that it all, or nearly all, goes to waste

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

341

for the want of gathering, -without any-
one, save a few isolated bee men, to en-
joy and appreciate it! "Why, sirs, we
have the prettiest part of the country.
Tou can not turn your eyes in any di-
rection but you behold a different scen-
ery— not that monotonous extension of
level land of the valleys, but here a
beautiful rolling hill, all covered with
green grass ; there, a rough mountain
side, overgrown by rough mountain
brush ; yonder, a precipitous rough
cliff of projecting rocks, each hill alter-
nating with a lovely little valley, with
its clear stream of running water. Now,
this mountain country is good for little
else but bee raising. It is true, much
of the land could be put to fruit,
and do as well as the valley land, prob-
ably better; but, sirs, there should be
a bee man on every thousand acres at
least, with bees enough to gather thou-
sands of tons of honey now going to
waste. Many say, "Is the bee busi-
ness not going to be run into the earth ?"
I answer, "No!" The honey produc-
ing district of California is only a nar-
row strip on the west side of the mount-
ains of Southern California, extending
from Santa Barbara to the State line
south. And compared with this State
alone it is a very small portion, while
compared with the whole United States
it is but a drop in the bucket.

CALIFOENIA SNOW PLANT {SAEC0BE8
SANGUINEA).

This singular and wonderfully high-
colored and tender habitant of the
snowy summit of the Sierras, has at-
tracted much attention from botanists
and professional gardeners, as well as
claimed the admiration of all that have
seen it in its purplish scarlet splendor,
growing like an icicle of blood from the
cold soil under the shadow of dark ev-

ergreens which cluster upon the brows
of towering mountains.

After all that has been said about the
impossibility of propagating this plant,
and all the speculations and assertions
as to its being a parasite from the roots
of the Pine, etc., this plant is actually
growing from the seed in the conserva-
tory of Dr. A. W. Saxe, at Santa Clara.
The Doctor — who, by the way, is some-
thing of a connoisseur of fine arts,
plants, and flowers, and who finds
pleasant home recreation during the
moments spared from tedious profes-
sional duties, in the study and care of
his quite extensive collection of rare
and beautiful specimens of the vegeta-
ble kingdom — is his own gardener, and
takes a pride in noting the various ex-
periments which he makes.

Last year he received from Truckee
several Snow-plants, which were taken
up near Donner Lake, and, with the
earth still adhering to them, transplant-
ed into a common candle box. Doctor
Saxe placed them (still in the box) in a
sheltered room under the tank of the
windmill, where it was cool and moist.
After the plants dried up he pulled
them out of the earth and crumbled the
seeds and crowns of the plants in his
hands, dropping them into the hole3
where the plants grew. He left the
box where it had been placed in the
tank room, and took no further care of
it. And now there are two fine plants,
as highly colored and as fine as any
that can be found in its native haunts.
The soil in the box is the same that was
taken up with the plants, and is of a
shaly, basaltic, non-sillaceous nature.
"We must give the Doctor credit for his
success, as being the first gardener that
has yet propagated the Snow -plant.
The Doctor is not a man to believe so
much in the mystery as in the rationale
of things, and by studying the natural

342

THE CALIFOENIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

habit of the plant he has succeeded in
filling the requirements of its nature.

ORANGE CULTURE.

The experiments heretofore made in
growing the Orange in this latitude
have demonstrated that the foothill re-
gions of this county are well adapted to
this luscious fruit. Bat now comes
Mr. D. A. Stearns, an Orange culturist
of Los Angeles, and says that Oranges
can be grown with a profit in any por-
tion of the valley. Mr. Stearns was in
this city recently, and from him we
learned some facts in regard to this
business which may be of more than
ordinary interest to our readers.

He says, first, that our people have a
wrong idea in regard to the kind of soil
best adapted to the Orange; that in-
stead of a sandy soil, they do best in a
heavy clay loam. Another mistake is
that the trees set out here are too much
shaded ; that in extreme caution to pro-
tect them from frost and cold, they are
also deprived of sufficient sunlight
which is a necessity for the production
of a thrifty bearing tree. He attrib-
utes many of the failures in growing
the Orange in the valley to the fact
that the trees have been nursed in hot-
houses, and have thus been weakened
and enervated to such an extent that
they can not endure exposure to the
natural atmosphere. To make a really
good tree, the seed must be sprouted
in a natural soil without any artificial
adjuncts. Mr. Stearns says, also, that
the practice of putting manure around
the trees is very injurious, as it poisons
the sap, stunts the growth, and in many
instances entirely destroys its life.

Our climate, he says, is really better
for this fruit than that of many portions
of Los Angeles where Oranges are
most successfully grown, and better

even than in Italy, where they have ice
and frost, and where for a week at a
time during certain seasons of the year,
the Orange trees are covered with snow.

In order to give Orange culture an
impetus in this section of the country,
and secure its success, Mr. Stearns has
for several years past devoted his atten-
tion to producing a hardy variety which
will thrive in much higher latitudes
than that of the Santa Clara or Sacra-
mento country, and he thinks he has
achieved a success in this line. His
nursery is on the Laccorowich tract
close to Los Angeles city, and just
across the river. Here he has ready
for transplanting a large number of
Orange, Lemon, and Lime trees, which
he is certain will do well in any locali-
ty in this valley. These trees he is
anxious to introduce here, and will of-
fer advantageous terms to all who de-
cide to go into the business.

"We have no doubt that many of our
fruit growers will avail themselves of
this opportunity, provided they consid-
er assurance of success sufficient to
warrant an extensive outlay. An agen-
cy for these trees will be established
here, and parties desiring information
on the subject can obtain it either from
Mr. Stearns or his representative. —
San Jose Mercury.

MOUNTAIN GRAPES.

That the mountains and foot-hills
are the natural home of the Grape can
no longer be questioned. The experi-
ment of raising the finest foreign varie-
ties on the mountain sides has proved
more successful than the most sanguine
friends of the theory predicted. It has
been claimed that a majority of the
valley land is too rich to produce good
Grapes, and the thin, mineral lands of
hilly France and Spain, which grew the

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

343

finest flavored wine and raisin Grapes
in the world, were pointed to in sub-
stantiation of that theory. Of late
years a number of small vineyards have
been planted on the hilly lands of our
own State, and the result has been
most gratifying. The finest exhibit of
Grapes at any of the Fairs this year was
to be seen in the San Jose Pavilion.
They were grown in the Santa Cruz
gap, three miles above the town of
Lexington, on a steep mountain side,
some 1,400 feet above the level of the
sea. A few years ago Mr. Feeley con-
cluded to try the experiment of Grape-
growing, and accordingly cleared the
Redwood and Pine trees from a small
piece of ground, and put out half a
dozen varieties of foreign Grapes. His
exhibit at San Jose astonished the old
vine-growers of that section, and set
them to thinking. The stock of Flame
Tokay Grapes from this vineyard are
nearly double the size of the Grapes in
the vineyard from which the cuttings
were taken, while the flavor is fully as
fine, if not superior. One bunch weigh-
ed six pounds, and the Grapes were the
size of large Cherry Plums.

Although the Santa Clara valley is
considered the home of the Grape, and
prices are at the very lowest. notch, the
products of this mountain vineyard sell
for almost double the regular price in
the local markets. This vineyard is
situated within the limits of what is
known as the " warm belt." There is
an almost entire absence of frost, and
they are never troubled by mildew.
This belt extends to both sides of the
Santa Clara valley, but the western hills
and mountains are better adapted to
fruit and Grape-growing than the hills
on the opposite side. The Santa Cruz
mountains have for years furnished the
lumber used by the inhabitants of the
valley, and as fast as the Redwood for-

ests are cleared away the ground can be
planted to vineyard and orchard. There
are no little valleys, but if the soil will
produce such Grapes and such fruit and
nuts as were exhibited, the day is not
distant when it will pay to dig terraces
in the sunny mountain sides and culti-
vate the tree and vine by hand. — Gall.

VEGETABLE GROWTH IN CALIFORNIA.

It is doubtful if there can be found
any place in the world where vegetable
growth is so rank as it is found to be in
California. A house is built upon the
dry and barren plains, a well dug, and
in a very few years it resembles a gar-
den of luxury and repose. Such places
can be found all over the plains in
Butte County. It is true that there are
hundreds of residences in the country
that have hardly a tree to shade them
from the hot, blazing sun, but this is
not the fault of the earth ; it is only a
proof of the want of good judgment on
the part of the owner, for if trees had
been planted, and a little care bestowed
upon them, the residence would have
been surrounded by a green, shady
grove, and that, too, in a very few
years. To show just how long it takes
to make a beautiful place we submit
the following facts: Just below town
is the residence of Wm. Edmonds, for
a long time Surveyor of this county.
He is an old gentleman, and not able
to do much hard work. He moved to
this place in December, 1873. It was
a bare, barren, gravelly spot, with as
little prospect of growing anything as
any sand-bank that could have possibly
been selected. He went to work and
put up a small house and barn. He
next turned his attention to getting a
supply, of water for his place, which
does not exceed two acres. Now mark
the result: Last Saturday morning,

344

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

while taking a walk, we stepped inside
his yard and took a walk with him
through his garden, and here give a list
of the things there growing. A lot of
Pampas Grass that grew from two seeds
planted one year ago, was eight feet
high and at least twenty feet in circum-
ference. There were some American
Chestnut trees three inches in diameter,
fifteen feet high, that grew from the
seed planted three years ago. White
Cherry trees four and one-half inches
in diameter, twenty feet high, four
years old from the seed, that bore an
abundant crop. There was a Mulberry
tree two years old that was a good-siz-
ed tree in full bearing. There were
also Apple, Peach, Pear, Plum, and
Quince trees that were of good size and
bearing heavy crops. The Pear trees
had a second crop on them that were
growing finely. The first crop was
about failing. Two of the first crop
weighed three pounds. The Quinces
were large and still growing. A Pome-
granate tree, planted some three years
ago from a small slip, was full of large,
ripe fruit. On a Grape-vine were some
of the largest and most beautiful clus-
ters of Grapes that we ever saw. One
bunch would weigh six pounds. We
have not referred to the thousand and
one flowers that were scattered around,
making the grounds beautiful, and fill-
ing the air with a thousand sweets.
This change has all been accomplished
since December, 1873, and no extra ef-
fort has been made. The leisure hours
about home have been employed in this
work. Every person about town will
agree with us that a more uninviting
spot for a garden could not have been
selected in the county. It is true he
has had considerable water to use, but
any rancher with his windmill has just
as much running to waste as he has
utilized. It follows that any rancher

could have had as cool an Eden as Mr.
Edmonds has if he had been so disposed.
We have given the above to show the
capabilities of our most barren spots to
produce vegetation. — Oroville Mercury.

THE CHESTNUT AND THE WALNUT.

It has, for many years, been a matter
of wonder to us, why, in planting out
shade and ornamental trees, these two
varieties should receive so little atten-
tion. They are, both of them, sym-
metrical in form when allowed room
for full expansion, rich in their verdure,
which does not fade until mastered by
age or ripened by premature frosts, and
are healthy and long-lived in their hab-
its.

Some years since we transplanted
both Chestnut and Walnut trees, for
the sake of adding variety to the scene.
Each kind have been for some years in
bearing fruit, and have already paid a
dozen times over for all the labor and
care bestowed upon them. Yet they
are young trees now, and promise to
afford the boys of three or four genera-
tions the pleasure of nutting under
them. It saves them many a disagree-
able tramp on a cold frosty morning, to
step out a few rods and fill their bas-
kets with nuts, instead of climbing the
hillside, and perhaps find some stroll-
ing trespasser had anticipated their vis-
it, and cleared the ground for their re-
ception. Besides, the fruit of the
Chestnut is materially improved by
raising it in open fields, in a favorable
soil.

The Chestnut is a tree that requires
room for its full development, the lower
branches often extending from fifty to
sixty feet from the trunk. When rais-
ed in open land, it should be allowed
to branch out as near the ground as it
is disposed to, for the lower the branch-

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

345

es the less it will be disposed to shoot
up to an inconvenient height. The
form of a perfect top is conical, and
with its broad arms and dense foliage
it shows a beautiful pyramid of verdure
in summer, or in this climate from the
20th of July to 1st of August, the mo-
notony of its verdure is broken by an in-
termixture of long white catkins from
which the burr originates, giving the
grove or field that beautiful appearance
which affords so agreeable a charm to
the eye.

The "Walnut is less ambitious than
the Chestnut, in the acquisition and oc-
cupancy of territory. Its wood is of
slower growth, and we have never seen
among aged trees any that assumed any-
thing like the size of the matured Chest-
nut. Two Walnuts will thrive and
grow well on the same territory that
one Chestnut would require. We have
heard as an objection to the Walnut,
that grass will not grow under it, or
within the circle of its roots. This is
not the case with us, and if it were, we
should hold it to be no objection, for
the value of the tree and its products is
much greater than the small amount of
grass the ground it occupies will pro-
duce.

The love of nuts is almost universal,
and hence we see in their season a gen-
eral rush to the woodlands where they
grow, to secure a winter supply. Heed-
less men and boys often inflict severe
injury to the tree in securing their im-
aginary quota. Why does not every
one who has land transplant them to
open fields or to the orchard, and raise
a supply of better fruit, independent of
their neighbors, and more convenient
of access? This we are confident is
one of the things that will be done, and
we are not mistaken if, in this Centen-
nial year, this thing is not begun in
earnest. — Germantown Telegraph.

Vol. VI.- 23.

LEAF MOLD.

The trees in Hyde Park, London, are
exhibiting signs of blight and decay,
greatly to the regret of all who frequent
that delightful and fashionable place of
resort. It is suggested in Hardwick's
Science Gossip that the cause of the
trouble is the careful removal of the
fallen leaves and fruit which form the
natural food of the trees. A portion of
the phosphate or oxalate of lime, which
the trees have drawn from the soil, is
stored in the tissues of the leaves and
fruits in the form of crystals. It is this
which renders leaf mold so valuable as
a manure. Therefore, when the tree
sheds its leaves, they should be allow-
ed to remain around its base, in order
that they may restore to the soil the
important constituents which they have
taken from it. When they are habitu-
ally removed the soil becomes impover-
ished, and incapable of sustaining a
vigorous vegetation. " Had the old
forests been always cleared of the fall-
en leaves, there would long since have
been a decay of that noble vegetation
which still excites the admiration of the
traveler. Kich and deep soils may af-
ford for long periods a sufficiency of
calcareous salts for the preservation of
the plants, but not so shallow and poor
soils. The quantity of saline matter
annually taken up, even by a single
tree, from the soil, and appearing as
microscopic crystals in the plant, is
prodigious ; and unless the saline ma-
terial be returned to the earth, exhaus-
tion thereof must sooner or later occur."

EFFECT OF SUNLIGHT ON VEGETATION.

Chemically speaking, sunlight is com-
posed of three distinct parts or rays,
the functions of each being distinct and
unlike. These are: 1st, the heat ray;

546

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICULTUKIST.

2d, the chemical or actinic ray; and 3d,
the illuminating ray. These may be
separated by passing common sunlight
through certain media. For example,
a piece of glass stained yellow allows
the heat and illuminating rays to pass
through, but completely strains out the
actinic or chemical rays. So a piece of
blue glass allows the heat and actinic
rays to pass through, keeping back
nearly all the illuminating rays. Re-
cent investigations and experiments
have conclusively shown that the vege-
table world is almost entirely indebted
to the effects of the actinic rays of light,
rather than to the illuminating rays,
for the many and varied changes
through which it passes, from the ger-
minating seed to the blade, the blos-
som, and the fully developed seed-
bearing growth. Were the chemical
ray entirely taken out of our sunlight,
seeds would not germinate in our gar-
dens and fields, foliage would lack its
peculiar characteristic color, flowers be
shorn of their beauty, and fruit would
not attract by its luscious flavor. Ex-
periment shows that seeds germinate
several days sooner in a hotbed covered
with blue glass than under the same
circumstances when covered with clear
glass, and that they germinate with
great reluctance when covered with yel-
low glass, if at all. The physician and
chemist know very well that it is the
actinic ray of light that decomposes
their chloroform, iodine, etc. Hence
they confine them in yellow glass bot-
tles, the color of which completely pro-
tects them.

THE BANANA.

It is acknowledged that no other
plant will yield as much food for man
on an acre of ground as the Banana, or
yield it with so little outlay of labor.

Where the mean temperature is about
82° Fah. the yield per acre is about
seventy-five tons. Even when the mean
temperature is as low as 75° or 76°, its
.cultivation is still advantageous ; a mean
at five degrees gives a middling return,
but when it sinks to 66°, the product
fails to be remunerative. Under the
most favorable conditions, a single tree
will yield three crops in a year, of sev-
enty-five pounds each. It is propagat-
ed by offsets or suckers, and requires
a soil rich and humid, but care must be
taken that it be well drained either
naturally or by artificial means. Of
the total weight of the fruit nearly thir-
ty-seven per cent, must be deducted for
the rind, the entire remainder being
edible.

While the Banana is green it is main-
ly starchy, but as it ripens this is chang-
ed into sugar and gum. In the tropi-
cal countries where it grows it is main-
ly used green, stripped of its rind, and
roasted under hot ashes. It is often
dried in a baker's oven, by which it
loses sixty per cent, of its weight and
becomes hard and translucent, and is
used instead of biscuit in forest jour-
neys and coast voyages by the natives.
The fruit is very nutritious even when
once half -ripe ; six and one-half pounds
of it, together with two ounces of salt-
ed meat, have been in many cases the
regular daily ration of food for labor-
ers in Banana growing regions. It was
proposed many years ago to grind dried
Bananas to flour for export to Europe,
as a staple article of food, but the pro-
ject seems to have come to nothing.
Considering the large amount of starch
contained in the unripe fruit, and the
sugar in that allowed to ripen, it would
seem perfectly feasible to use it in the
manufacture of alcohol, etc., in the
same manner that potatoes are how ap-
plied to such purpose.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

347

THE NEW AMERICAN PLUMS.

The Plum is confessedly a valuable
and popular fruit, and many have been
the attempts to obtain varieties that
would repay the care of the cultivator
with au abundant crop. During the
last twenty years we have introduced
many of the choicest sorts from Europe,
together with the so-called South Amer-
ican varieties (red and yellow) ; and aft-
er producing some fine timber trees,
watching the hopeful -looking frait
spurs, and still more promising blos-
soms year after year in vain, or with
only an occasional specimen, we have
received a tree each of two native South-
ern Plums, which have proved to be an
unqualified success. These varieties
are improved seedlings of the Chicka-
saw Plum (Primus Chicasa), which lat-
ter is found wild over a large portion of
the Southern States.

The Wild Groose Plum is the earlier
of the two. The fruit is large, bright
vermillion color, with numerous small
white dots; stalk slender; flesh juicy,
vinous, pleasant — adherent to the stone.
Tree vigorous, leaves narrow, light
green; very productive, and maturing
early. As a market frait it is very de-
sirable, being of fair size, good quality,
and beautiful color, as well as ripening
before the earliest Plums from Sydney
are in the market.

The Newman Plum is smaller than
the above, ripening immediately after
it, of similar appearance. Fine tree,
very productive, foliage somewhat
smaller than that of the Wild Goose.

These trees are very distinct. The
smooth, fine, thornless wood, with
beautiful narrow (lanceolate) foliage,
and in early spring the abundance of
snowy blossoms, bringing to remem-
brance the English May Thorn, makes
them very desirable additions to the or-

chard. They also have the advantage
of bearing young. Scions have been
distributed among the Brisbane nursery-
men, as also among some Sydney and
Melbourne ones, so that farmers and
orchardists may be able to obtain these
valuable varieties in quantity and at
reasonable rates. The seed of these
Plums should all be sown for two pur-
poses. First, for raising new and de-
sirable varieties; and the other for fur-
nishing stocks for these and other Plums
as also for some Peaches and Apricots.
In the meantime, we must propagate
on the Peach stock, either by budding
as low down as possible, or by crown-
grafting underground. The trees are
very hardy, and adapt themselves to a
greater range of soil than ordinary
Plums, and their introduction gives the
farmer and fruit-grower another relia-
ble and marketable crop. There are
other varieties of this type, and some
hybrids, which we are introducing, of
which we hope to report progress at a
future time, and which we trust will
prove as great a boon as the foregoing
have done. — Augusta (Ga.) Sentinel.

TRAFFIC IN NEW ENGLAND FERNS.

Among the new industries of the last
few years is the collection and sale of
the creeping Ferns so common in pur
New England woods, and, until last
year, unknown beyond the Hudson.
This business originated at Greenfield,
where it is now carried on extensively,
and was begun here about four years
ago. It is now in the hands of E. W.
Clarke and Miellez & Co., who sell
many thousand dollars worth annually.
But few bunches were sold at first ; but
as the demand has steadily increased,
the woods east and southeast of Spring-
field, in Longmeadow, Wilbraham, and
Somers, have been carefully gleaned.

348

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

Often the value of the Ferns growing
on a single acre of woodland will ex-
ceed that of an acre of corn, and wood
lots have been bought at high prices
solely to control the Fern trade.

The season for gathering these Ferns
begins about the middle of August, and
lasts till late in the autumn. Original-
ly fresh Ferns were sold, and those
largely for Christmas decorations, but
the trade in the pressed Ferns is now
by far the largest part of the business,
and gives employment to a number of
hands. One dealer in this city keeps
about twelve girls at work pressing. A
dozen Ferns are pressed in one "string,"
and one New York house has ordered
20,000 strings. The pressed Ferns are
sent all over the United States and
Canada, many going to California.
They are used mainly for wall decora-
tions, and the ladies will doubtless be
surprised to learn that their western
sisters often pay several dollars for
Ferns like those which can often be
obtained hereabouts during an after-
noon's drive. The native Fern, like
the native American, resists all attempts
at civilization, and is an entire failure
as a house plant. — Springfield Republi-
can.

MOSS ROSES FOE MARKET.

Moss Eoses are largely grown for the
London markets. They thrive pretty
well under trees, and are very hardy
and floriferous. Light, rich, and deep
ground suits them best. Two rows of
these Roses are generally planted be-
tween Currant and Gooseberry bushes,
about two feet apart, but as suckers
speedily make their appearance, all tra-
ces of rows become lost, and the result
is a broad band of Roses, some two and
a half or three feet wide, occupying the
central space between the bush fruit.

Under fruit trees, where no fruit bush-
es exist, they are grown in lines two
and one-fourth or three feet apart, and
interspersed with sprouting Broccoli,
Brussels Sprouts, Potatoes, or Shallots,
and they are also grown in the open
ground, about the same distance apart.
After they have done blooming, and
have made good wood, they are laid on
both sides of the rows, and in October
or any time between that and the fol-
lowing March, the layers are lifted, and
after the roots have been dressed and
their tops shortened a little, they are
planted out in perfect rows from two
to three feet apart, or, if space is scarce
at the time, thickly in rows a foot or
eighteen inches apart, where they re-
main for twelve months before being
finally planted out. They are pruned
very closely in winter, and in spring
they begin to form flower buds, almost
as soon as the leaves make their appear-
ance. In hot summers, and indeed
whenever convenience permits, the spa-
ces over the roots, two or three feet in
width, are mulched with litter, which
saves them from drought, and also acts
as a stimulant.

NEW PLANTS.

Liatris Pycnostachya. — This plant is
found wild abundantly throughout the
States of Kansas and Texas, and in the
Indian Territory, and though long
known to botanists, and now and then
sent here by correspondents during the
past dozen years or more, no attempt
to introduce it to general notice exten-
sively has been made that we are aware
of. During the past summer we saw a
whole row of it in the garden of a flor-
ist, and the effect of so large a quantity
was beautiful in the extreme. The
plants were raised from seeds brought
originally from Southern Kansas in

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

349

1873. If sown in the fall or winter, the
plants bloom the next year, but success
follows when sown in the spring, and
the plants have a season's growth be-
fore flowering. The roots are some-
what bulbous, and when once had will
bloom well for several years. There
are some twenty species of North Amer-
ican Liairis, but this is perhaps the
handsomest of the whole. The flowers
are rosy purple; spike about one foot
long. They commence to flower at the
top of the spike, and the blooming pro-
gresses downward. Like so many beau-
tiful plants from the West this has not
been known long enough to get an En-
glish name, and we suppose the Greek
one will be considered hard by the la-
dies, and pedantic by the average man.
The settlers call it "Fire-weed" and
"Sky-rocket Plant," but as these
names are already given to scores of
things, and will be to as many more, it
is hardly worth while holding on to
them. The Eastern L. scariosa is known
as " Gay Feather," suppose we all agree
to call this the " Kansas Gay Feather."
There are other species of Liairis in
Kansas, but as this is the best, let it be
the one.

Hybbid Penstemons. — As the Penste-
mon thrives so well in our gardens, it
is worth notice that the Germans are
improving some species remarkably.
The best strains are hybrids between
P. Hartwegi and P. gentianoid.es. These
do not require protection in our Cali-
fornia winters.

Retinospera Leptoclada. — It should
not be forgotten by purchasers — is the
same thing as the B. squarrosa of some
English catalogues.

Hydrangea, "Thomas Hogg." — This
beautiful pure white variety of Hydran-
gea hortensis is now ready for sale, and
has been sent to England for distribu-
tion. It will no doubt be one of the

most popular plants sent out from the
English nurseries, and is expected to
yield the parties concerned an immense
sum, which their enterprise and indus-
try well deserve.

Aspeeuca odorata. — This pretty her-
baceous plant, says VHort. Belgique,
enters into the composition of the Ger-
man perfume known as " maitrank."

Vibuenum plicatum. — This, the Japan
Snowball of our gardens, is becoming
well known in our country, where it
thrives well. Its hardiness and great
beauty will long insure popularity for
it. It does not seem to be so well and
favorably known in England. It forms
the subject of a full page engraving in
the Gardener's Chronicle.

A New Habdy Teee — Cedeela Sinen-
sis.— In 1862 a tree was introduced to
France, supposed to be a kind of Ail-
anthus. It has now been found to be
of a different genus, and is Gidrela si-
nensis.— Gardener's Monthly.

"Waem Watee foe Plants. — Every
year the practice of using water quite
warm to the hand, grows in favor with
me, and now I could not give a plant
the smallest sip of cold water, being
sure that it would injure it. Saucers
are quite needful, and every pot should
be supplied with one, and if it is filled
with boiling water every morning, it
will add to the luxuriance of the plant,
and frequently no other moisture will
be needed for several days. The con-
tents of the tea-pot are also efficacious
in plant growth, and the tea leaves can
be added in small quantities to the soil
of the pots. Ivies are always beautified
by an application of tea leaves and tea,
and it is an excellent thing to wet a
sponge in tea and moisten them with it,
as it wipes off all the dust which accu-
mulates upon them continually. — Cor.
New England Farmer.

350

THE CALIFOBNIA HOETICULTUBIST.

Mitm'mX ftetfoto.

OUE FEONTISPIECE.

There is probably no flower that has
grown into popularity more rapidly
than the Gladiolus. Of comparatively
recent introduction, the few species we
once possessed were but little grown,
and not at first generally in favor. For
many years only one or two species
were in cultivation. Experiments had
often been made to effect hybridization
between these, and the more slender-
growing, showy -flowered greenhouse
species. The Bev. Mr. Herbert, of
Spofforth, England, for many years ex-
perimented in this direction, but with
uniform ill success. The question was,
however, definitely settled by the pro-
duction in Ghent of the hybrid known
as G. Gandavensis, which, retaining the
vigorous habit of G. psittacinus and the
yellow throat, had yet the brighter col-
ors of the more showy G. cardinalis.
To this variety we probably owe the
many showy kinds popularly known as
'-' Gandavensis hybrids."

Many fine kinds were imported from
Europe, but our amateurs were not long
content to import Gladiolus, and Amer-
ican seedlings soon made their appear-
ance. It was found that our climate,
and especially California, was better
adapted to their culture than that of
either France or England, and many
turned their attention to this plant.
The result has been the production of
seedlings in immense variety, a great
proportion of which are far better than
any we can import. Their culture is
very simple. In the first place, a cold,
damp, close soil is unfavorable to the
plants. Rank manures are also injuri-
ous, and everything of a heating tend-
ency causes disease. Plant the bulbs
from four to six inches deep, according
to the size, the largest being planted

deepest. Soon after the shoots appear
give the first tying; a second being ne-
cessary when the flower-stalk appears.
After the bloom has faded, cut off the
flower-stalk, unless it is desired to ripen
seed ; and in this climate they may be
either taken up in October, or left all
the winter in the ground. Indeed, we
may have Gladiolus all the year, if con-
secutive planting is resorted to. If the
bulbs are taken up, dry them in the sun
for a day, trim and clean them, and
preserve them until spring in a cool,
dry cellar. Many varieties produce
seed freely. The young plants grow
rapidly, and generally here bloom the
second year.

"We know of no greater pleasure in
our garden than watching beds of seed-
ling Gladiolus. Every flower is a new
revelation different from the others,
like Pansy seedlings, unlike its com-
panions, and often far finer than im-
ported varieties.

We had almost forgotten to speak of
the Gladiolus as a parlor plant; not
for parlor culture, but for ornamenta-
tion. For cut-flowers it has hardly any
equal. Place a spike in water, of which
the lower blooms are just opening; it
will go on and expand every flower, oft-
en continuing weeks in beauty. The
following are comparatively old varie-
ties, of moderate cost, and can not fail
to give satisfaction; colors may be as-
certained from florists' catalogues : Iso-
line (the earliest bloomer), Adonis,
Pluton, Vulcan, Osiris, Pegasus, Ceres,
Goliath, Brenchleyensis (most brilliant
for massing), Vesta, Madame de Vatry,
Ophis, Canari, Berthe Rabourdin, Mad-
ame Leseble, Mars, Napoleon III, Ju-
non, Beine Victoria, Bembrandt, Prince
Imperial, Madame Souchet, Belle Ga-
brielle, Madame Binder, Neptune, Sul-
phureus, and El Dorado. We might
go on almost indefinitely with the list.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

351

There are now more numbers quite as
good, and even better than those we
have mentioned; indeed, all are showy,
effective, and highly worthy of culture.
In setting the bulbs, the best effect is
produced by planting them from nine
inches to a foot apart each way; and,
where each one is tied to a state, the
effect is very fine when in bloom.

Seed of the Gladiolus gathered this fall
should be sown next spring in frames
or in the open ground, covering them
not more than a half inch deep. Keep
the bed constantly moist. Gladioli
like an open position, and should not
be surrounded by shrubbery, etc. It
is proper to change their locality every
year or two.

Finally, most of us who are interest-
ed in plants, are possessed of an espe-
cial fondness for particular flowers, of
which our friends, who view them
through plain glasses, can feel but a
slender appreciation. But, whether we
view the Gladiolus as regards its pro-
lific reproduction, its blooming period,
its easy culture, its compactness, its
freedom from insects, or its incompara-
ble spikes of bloom, if it does not justi-
fy the furious enthusiasm which once
made a Tulip worth more than its
weight in gold, it certainly merits to be
ranked among our choicest flowers.

WOEK FOE THE MONTH.

Roses should soon be pruned pretty
closely. Deciduous shrubs, such as Li-
lacs, Snowballs, Mock Oranges, Spirae-
as, Deutzias, etc., must be trimmed
with care. Ignorant gardeners fre-
quently cut away the wood which should
produce the flowers, and we have fre-
quently heard the complaint that some
of the above named shrubs have not
produced any flowers for a long time ;
and that the owners were determined

to throw them away on that account.
When we explained matters to them,
and a more sensible mode of treatment
was adopted, an abundant season of
flowers generally followed.

Dahlias and Gladiolus may be taken
up and stored, after exposing the roots
to the sun for a day or two, in a dry,
airy place. Hyacinths may also be ta-
ken up and kept out of the ground for
a few weeks, or until the time comes
for transplanting. Tulips, Narcissus,
Lilies, Paeonies, and Snowdrops should
remain in the ground undisturbed, but
the earth surrounding them should be
spaded or trenched carefully, so as not
to injure the bulbs, and they should
have a good manuring or top-dressing.
Violets, Pinks, and other herbaceous
plants should receive some manure,
and the soil should be worked carefully
around them.

Greenhouses and conservatories must
have a thorough overhauling, and care
must be taken that the glass roofs are
made tight. When artificial heat is not
applied during winter it is advisable to
water sparingly, and to give a great
deal of fresh air. This will prevent too
much growth of tender shoots, which
are apt to perish during our cloudy and
chilly winter days. This is particular-
ly the case with all tender ornamental
foliage plants, such as Coleus, Maran-
tas, Begonias, etc.

Very little attention has, so far, been
paid here to the proper heating of
greenhouses. Although artificial heat
is not required for Heliotropes, Gerani-
ums, Camellias, etc., yet it is certain
that the more tender warm-house plants,
including the very desirable, tender,
ornamental foliage plants, must receive
artificial heat if they are expected to
vegetate luxuriantly. If kept dry and
in small pots, most of the so-called
warm-house plants may be wintered

352

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

without actual loss, yet we frequently
hear of total losses of Coleus, Clero-
dendron, variegated Dracaenas, Maran-
tas, and the like. We certainly do not
require such formidable heating appli-
ances as are necessary in the East and
in Europe, but it is very desirable that
this matter should be properly discuss-
ed among our professional men as well
as amateurs. Flowering bulbs are now
in market. To those who are fond of
Hyacinths and Narcissus in bloom at
Christmas time, we would give a kind-
ly advice to purchase a few bulbs, and
to plant them without delay in pots or
boxes for the window. They are cheap
— every one can afford to have a few ;
they are of easy culture, and give gen-
eral satisfaction and pleasure. Wel-
lington of Washington Street, Trum-
bull of Sansome, E. Meyer of Geary,
W. Meyer of Bush, Robertson of Cali-
fornia Market, and Miller, Sievers& Co.,
of Mission and Post Streets, have all good
and extensive assortments of all kinds
of these bulbs.

A VISIT TO THE FLOKISTS.

Among the many beautiful and rare
plants which are now found in many of
our best floral establishments, among
the climbing vines, are Aristolochia gi-
gas, one of the most remarkable and cu-
rious in its flowers. They are like the
ear of an elephant. Their color is equal-
ly singular, the ground being cream,
interlaced with innumerable minute
cross purplish stripes. At a distance
these grotesque blooms look like decay-
ing pendulous leaves, of the brownish
color of autumn. Some of the species
are of a lurid color, and bear resem-
blance to the expanded mouth of a horn,
while others are distinguished by a long
pendent pouch. The tender kinds re-
quire either the stove or greenhouse,

and a few are sufficiently robust to bear
out-door exposure in this climate and
in England, but not in the eastern por-
tion of the United States. They all
grow freely in rich loam and peat.
Most of them extend their branches for
a long distance, though some are to be
found that are neat and compact in
their growth. The A. gigas is quite
new to California. A. sipho, A. Bon-
blandi, and A. sempervirens are also rare
on this coast. Among the Orchids, a
group of lovely Epiphytes, is Odontoglos-
sum grande, probably the best of them.
It produces a magnificent and gorgeous
flower. These plants, being natives of
the Western Hemisphere, do not require
a very high temperature, but delight in
a moist atmosphere, kept salubrious by
the frequent admission of fresh air.
0. Bossii, citrosmum, Cervantesii, pul-
chellum Insleayi and grande, should be
in every collection.

Cypripedium insigne is an old but
handsome Orchid, of a curious dwarf
species of the terrestrial class; the se-
pals and petals are broad and expan-
sive, the lip large and helmet-shaped,
and the color of the whole green, blotch-
ed and striped zebra like, and barred
with purple. They are easily grown in
rough peat, in a somewhat lower tem-
perature than is necessary for most oth-
er plants of the order.

Strelitzia regince (Bird of Paradise),
nat. ord. Musacece, is one of the most
common of these handsome plants,
with large purple -green leaves and
singular richly- colored flowers, but
most beautiful. It much resembles a
bird's brilliantly-colored beak, like the
Toucan, but with a crest. Its colors
are bright orange and purple. It is
usual to grow the species as stove
plants, but they succeed almost equal-
ly in the greenhouse. This flower was
named in honor of old Queen Charlotte

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

353

of England, wife of George the Third.

Peristeria elata ( Holy Ghost Flower )
is too well known to need description.
Its likeness to a dove is its wonderful
and striking peculiarity. '

Among the Abutilons is the Santana,
not a new variety, but the best of all;
foliage large, the flowers are also large
and of a deep red, and produced in
great abundance. A. Boule de Neige is
a new and most striking variety ; the
flowers are of a pure white. These
plants grow rapidly in sandy loam and
peat.

Among the Fuchsias is the Sunray,
one of the most charming and attract-
ive novelties of this class. The foliage
is beautifully and richly colored, simi-
lar to the leaves of the three colored
Geraniums. May Felton and Victor
are lovely specimens also.

We noticed of the Begonias, Begonia
Gibsonii, a double flowering variety re-
cently introduced. All the species of
Begonias are interesting and beautiful
ornaments of the greenhouse, of the
simplest culture in any rich soil if al-
lowed an abundant supply of water.
Cuttings may be struck without trouble.

Among the double Geraniums are
Asa Gray, light orange salmon ; rather
scarce at present; odd but fine. E. G.
Henderson we much admire, a first-class
variety, but old. Triomphe, one of the
very best, large, double, fine truss,
cherry carmine and rich. Also double-
Ivy-leaved Geranium [( G. Koenig Albert).

Among the Agaves we noticed, be-
sides the fine, well-known, golden-edg-
ed or variegated one, another of the
same kind — A. Millerii.

Also a new German Ivy of great mer-
it has made its appearance among our
florists, Senecio Macroglossum. Its thick
and glossy leaf of a dark metallic green
hue is veined with silvery gray ; flow-
ers large, golden yellow.

Among the aquatic plants we noticed
Cyperus papyrus and 0. paperrifera,
and, especially, a new plant which
spreads very delicately and prettily on
the surface of the water, similar to the
European Duckweed. It was found
near Fort Point ; also a California Wa-
ter Lily (Nephar), color yellowish white.

The public are commencing to show
a lively taste for ponds and aquariums,
and there are now found among our
chief florists no less than twenty-five
aquatic plants suitable as accessories to
the ornamentation of grounds and
rooms. We hope in a short time to
see the Victoria Begia — the largest Wa-
ter Lily in the world — a native of the
river Amazon, grown here successfully
in a suitable tank. One floral firm has
already made the attempt, but the seeds
were found defective. More, however,
have been ordered.

A PLEA FOE FEENS AND MOSSES.

Ferns and their allies have long been
a favorite class of plants with us. True,
you will say they are destitute of con-
spicuous and showy flowers, which give
so much beauty and interest to a gar-
den or conservatory. But then their
exceedingly graceful habit and delicate
green-colored foliage amply compen-
sate for this apparent loss ; for it is not
a real one, many of the Fern tribe hav-
ing fructifications of, to say nothing
else, great curiosity. What a grand
effect has a complete collection of these
interesting plants, from the most gigan-
tic Tree Fern of Australia to the most
puny Lycopod! And here we can not
resist commending the collection of a
large variety of these lovely specimens
of a peculiar portion of the vegetable
kingdom in the Fern house at Wood-
ward's Gardens, and also conspicuous
in many parts of his handsome and now

354

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

well-filled conservatories; also, the ex-
tensive displays of the same graceful
family of plants in the large exotic
houses of Miller, Sievers & Co., oppo-
site the above Gardens, which are well
worth visiting, together with their
ponds of aquatic plants.

Like all other natural families of
plants, Ferns, to be managed to perfec-
tion, require a house to themselves, or
nearly so, say a span-roofed house, with
a glass division — the one for tropical,
and the other for temperate. This ar-
rangement is judiciously made at Wood-
ward's and Miller & Co.'s. To be seen
to the best advantage, a mass of artifi-
cial rock- work is seen at both these
places, in the place of a stage, with
here a pool of water, there a sparkling
jet or fountain, with the drooping Ferns
and Lycopods hanging over the edges.
Among these rocks are inserted promis-
cuously, and without seeming intention,
large distorted, gnarly, half -decayed
tree * stumps ; and into the cavities of
these, a host of the most choice and
beautiful find a congenial home. The
Elk's-horn Fern (Acrostichum alcicorne)
here looks charmingly, clasping the old
stumps and jagged rocks, and sending
up its singularly shaped fronds. The
lovely Hare's-foot Fern {Davalia canar-
iensis) extends its hare's-foot-like creep-
ing rhizoma, and forms a striking con-
trast, besides many others from all
parts of the world. Lycopodiacece form
the carpet or undergrowth of these in-
teresting and most attractive Ferneries.
L. denticulatum, L. caesium are both ad-
mirably adapted for this purpose, with
some others. In the tropical depart-
ments, the striking L. c. arboreum, tow-
ering to the tops of the houses, with
its blue tint and moss-like appearance,
has a most pleasing effect. As Ferns
and Mosses, almost without exception,
love shade, there are planted here and

there large single stemmed plants of
rare size and shape. The contrast is
most agreeable, and in perfect har-
mony. These are evidently selected for
■their natural spreading head. There
are a variety of plants here seen that
associate well with these, especially
those grown for their curiosity, rather
than flowers.

To descend from these houses to ev-
eryday affairs. There is plenty of room
in these hotf-houses or greenhouses for
a portion of these. If you have a na-
ked piece of soil under the stage, or
around the paths, what looks nicer
than to have it covered with Lycopodi-
um denticulatum and ccesium — in green
or hot-house they will grow alike. If
a few hanging baskets are suspended
from the rafters of your house, as in
Woodward's and the Exotic Gardens
opposite — and everyone should have a
few — it may have in it a choice Orchid,
Hoy a Bella, or other plant. This is
just the thing that is wanted. Place in
a few pieces of the Moss, and it will
soon spread over the whole, forming a
living green basket; while it acts, at
the same time, as a never - failing hy-
grometer, indicating when water is
wanting, besides preventing undue
evaporation.

For green for the bouquet, too, many
are exceedingly useful. We see* them
now much used in this manner. Take
the wedge-leaved Maiden-hair (Adian-
tum acuneatum), or the true Maiden-
hair (A. capUlus veneris), for instance :
search the whole vegetable kingdom,
you can hardly find more delicately
beautiful material for the purpose, es-
pecially for the outside of small table
bouquets. They have the additional
good quality of being always in season;
in fact, they are just the thing that ev-
ery collection of plants should have
some specimens of. We should be

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

355

sorry to be without the following: Ly-
copedium denticulalam, cossixim, c. arbo-
reum, depressum, stoloniferum, Wildeno-
vii, and umbrosum, and Adiantum ^acu-
neqtum, even for utility's sake.

One feature in connection with the
tribe is, that they are easily grown.
The roots of Ferns are very small, and
should have an open porous material to
permeate in, and abundant white sand
added to the soil to keep it so ; pieces
of broken pot and charcoal should be
mixed with the soil for the same pur-
pose. In potting, plants will be found
to do better if the crown of the plant is
raised an inch or so above the top of
the pot. When growing, most of them
are fond of plenty of water, especially
sjmnkled over the fronds. Some sorts
continue throwing up young fronds
throughout the year; others are peri-
odical in this respect, and require a
season of rest ; that is, partial suspen-
sion of watering. The Acrostichum al-
cicorne and stemaria will readily cling
and grow to a flat piece of board, if
held to it at first by a piece of wire ; in
the stove this is a curious way to grow
them. In fact, a variety of ways may
be devised, in which these plants may
be made to add beauty to the green or
hot-house. For soil, an equal mixture
of very fibry loam and peat will be
found suitable, if they can be procured
here, or something as near to them as
possible, with the additions recom-
mended above. But perhaps we have
said enough on this (to many) not so
interesting a subject as the more im-
mediate and more popular so called
blooming plants.

Callpornians are talking of' opium-
poppy culture in the State, and there-
by supply the Chinese population with
the home-grown article. We think our
energies might be better directed.

FRUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPEK.

There is scarcely an article of vegeta-
ble food more widely useful and more
universally liked than the Apple. Why
every farmer has not an Apple orchard
where the trees will grow at all is one
of the mysteries. Let every family, in
autumn, lay in from two to ten, or more
barrels of this wholesome fruit, and it
will be to them the most economical in-
vestment in the whole range of culin-
aries. A raw mellow Apple is digested
in an hour and a half, while boiled
Cabbage requires five hours. The most
healthful dessert which can be placed
on the table is a baked Apple. If taken
freely at breakfast, with coarse or brown
bread and butter, without meat or flesh
of any kind, it has an admirable effect
on the general system, often removing
constipation, correcting acidities, and
cooling off febrile conditions more ef-
fectually than the most approved medi-
cines. If families could only be induc-
ed to substitute the Apple — sound, ripe
and luscious — for the pies, cakes, can-
dies, and other sweetmeats with which
their children are too often indiscreetly
stuffed, there would be a diminution of
doctors' bills, sufficient, in a single
year, to lay in a stock of this delicious
fruit for a whole season's use.

But few people seem to know, too,
the value of small fruits to a family
when grown in their own gardens.
You commence with Strawberries ; they
continue in California, if irrigated, for
eight months in successive crops. Tou
pick perhaps six to twelve quarts a day.
You have them on your table as a des-
sert, if you please, at noon, and your
tea-table is loaded with them in the ev-
ening, and you want little else but your
bread and butter. Your family con-

356

THE CALIFOBNIA HOBTICULTUBIST.

sume in one way or another about eight
quarts a day, and while they last no
medicines for bodily ailments are re-
quired, as a quart of Strawberries daily
will generally dispel all ordinary dis-
eases not settled permanently in the
system. After Strawberries, Baspber-
ries come to continue about five weeks;
then we have Blackberries, where the cli-
mate, as in this State, is not too cold for
the cultivated and tender varieties ; then
the Currants ripen, which remain with us
till the early Grapes mature ; and tak-
ing the season through, any family with
a half acre of land in a garden can
grow small fruits that make country life
delightful, and at the same time hun-
dreds of dollars can be saved in the
supply of the table, as the writer knows
from forty years' experience.

There would seem to be no good rea-
son why, if we wish to raise good or-
chard fruits we should not manure our
trees. People often look at trees grow-
ing on rocky hillsides, and argue there-
from that trees can grow without ma-
nure. They know that Potatoes and
other vegetables must have manure or
they will not thrive, but they regard
trees as a different order of vegetation,
something that can thrive and flourish
where nothing else would. But, in the
case of trees on rocky hill-sides, the
land is often anything but poor. The
rocks themselves frequently contain
valuable mineral matter, which, as the
rock decays, is presented in a form that
plants can feed upon. Then, whatever
vegetation grows among the rocks re-
mains there to decay, and even leaves
and other foreign substances that blow
into the crevices formed by the rocks
make a valuable plant food, on which
the tree thrives. Indeed, trees in ap-
parently poor rocky places, are really
much better off than many trees in or-
chards, where they are in what appears

good land. In more level land trees
must be manured. In many cases it is
as necessary to the best success that
trees, have an occasional manuring as it
is that any crop should have manure.
There have been many discussions as to
whether manure for fruit-trees should
be applied broadcast or plowed in. For
orchard trees there is no rule ; it de-
pends on circumstances. If the trees
are on ground where vegetables are
grown, the manure is, of course, turn-
ed in for the benefit of these crops, and
the roots of the fruit-trees fight with
those of the vegetables for some of it,
and get it, too. But there are many
orchards where no crops are grown but
the trees, and then it is an excellent
practice to apply manure as a top-dress-
ing at least every other year, if you
would have them bear an abundance of
good fruit.

On or about the 20th of last month
there was no change worthy of mention
in the fruit or vegetable markets.
Baspberries of the second crop were
received almost daily from San Jose,
and retailed readily at 40c. per lb.
Strawberries of good quality were com-
ing in quite plentifully, and for the
lateness of the season were not high in
price, being somewhat cheaper than
Baspberries, viz., 15c. per lb.

In the fruit market about the last of
October there had been no material
changes for two weeks, but vegetables
of some varieties showed an upward
tendency. Apples were steady, at 75c.
to $1.50, and Pears $1 to $2.50 per box.
Potatoes by the single sack, $1.25 to
$1.75 per 100 lbs. The principal vari-
eties of Grapes retailed as follows:
Chasselas and Mission, 5c. to 6c. ; Black
Hamburg, Bose of Peru, and Black
Malvoisie, 6c. to 8c; Muscat of Alex-
andria, 8c. to 10c; White and Flame
Tokay, 8c to 10c; Black Morocco, 10c.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

357

to 12ic. ; Purple Damascus and Olivita,
15c. per lb. With these and other
Grapes the ma*rket was most liberally
supplied, and is likely to be so for some
time. The first lot of Los Angeles
Lemons by the Southern Pacific Rail-
road had come to hand. " The Sweet
Potato market was fearfully demoraliz-
ed, selling at 50c. per sack, or less than
£c. per lb." So says that good author-
ity, the Commercial Herald. Strawber-
ries were 15c. per lb.; Figs, 4c. to 6c.
per lb.; Bananas, $2 to $3 per bunch;
Cantaleups, 25c. to 75c. per dozen; Co-
coanuts, $7 to $8 per 100.

^tutorial (Stating.

"Where Boxwood Comes From. — Not
every one is aware that the wood used
by engravers is the growth of those far
away regions around the Black and
Caspian Seas, the very names of the
ports from which it is shipped being
unfamiliar. Very few who consider
themselves good geographers have ever
heard of Poti, Abkassia, or Tzartsin,
and yet these are flourishing commer-
cial towns, reached by way of the Cold-
en Horn of Constantinople. For all
fine engraving Turkey Boxwood is used,
and as its quality varies much some
skill is necessary to a good selection.
The best is of a delicate yellow color,
clear and free from spots ; it cuts
smoothly and evenly, with no crumbling
or tearing, but every line cut will be
perfect. It is to the use of this wood
by our artists that the superiority of
their designs and wood engravings
must in a great measure be attributed.
In consequence of its scarcity and high
price many substitutes have been resort-
ed to: Maple, Apple, Pear, Mahogany,
have been experimented upon ; but
hitherto no wood, metal, or composition
lias been discovered that possesses the

requisite qualities. In addition to en-
graving, Boxwood is used for scales,
rules, gauging rods, and similar articles
of which figuring is made; and there
are factories in Connecticut that consume
hundreds of tons annually for this pur-
pose alone. Any one that has ever held
a carpenter's rule in his hand knows
what Boxwood is like. It differs in
color from all other woods, and it is
somewhat remarkable that it comes to
perfection only in a comparatively lim-
ited region of country in the vicinity of
the Black Sea. It weighs about seven-
ty-five pounds to the cubic foot, and
varies in price to land it in Boston from
$75 to $350 a ton.

Gram. — This useful article of food,
large quantities of which are used in
India, is the product of the common
chick pea, or Bengal gram, a hardy an-
nual, herbaceous plant of the legumin-
ous family. It is found wild in the
south of Europe, and in Africa and the
west of Asia. It is much cultivated in
Spain, and there used as a leguminous
esculent. It grows about a foot high,
branches much, and the leaves are pin-
nated. The flowers grow singly on slen-
der stalks, and are of a bluish purple
color. They are succeeded by oblong
hairy pods, usually containing two seed.
-The mode of cultivation is similar to
that of other leguminous plants. The
drill method is preferable, on account
of the greater facility for the eradica-
tion of weeds. Strong clayey land pro-
duces the best crop, and a calcareous
soil is well suited to it. The pulse
somewhat resembles the white pea, but
is larger and more irregularly shaped.
In the East it is largely used as an arti-
cle of nutritious food, in curries, cakes,
etc., and is well adapted for fattening
cattle and horses. Dr. Christie men-
tions that an acid (oxalic) exudes from

358

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

all parts of the plant, which is collected
by the ryots and used in their curries
instead of vinegar. This plant is also
employed by the natives as a refriger-
ant in fevers, and for other medicinal
purposes. A small quantity is import-
ed into England, it is thought for the
purpose of adulterating coffee. In the
south of Europe the seeds are much
employed in French cookery under the
name of "gravance," and when gath-
ered ripe they form the basis of the
■well known French soup, "puree aux
croutons."

The Gardener's Life. — Alcott, in his
"Tablets," remarks: "Thus we asso-
ciate gardens and orchards with the
perfect condition of mankind. Garden-
ers ourselves by birthright, we also my-
thologize and plant our Edens in the
midst of us, like our ancestors ; the sa-
credness of earth and heaven still cling-
ing to the tiller of the ground. Him
we esteem the pattern man, the most
favored of any. His labors have a
charming innocence. They yield the
gains of a self-respect denied to other
callings. His is an occupation friend-
ly to every virtue; the freest of any
from covetousness and debasing cares.
It is full of honest profits, manly la-
bors, and brings and administers all
necessaries ; gives the largest leisure
for study and recreation, while it an-
swers most tenderly the hospitalities, of
friendship and the claims of home.
The delight of children, the pastime of
women, the privilege of the poor man
as it is the ornament of the gentleman,
the praise of the scholar, the security
of the citizen, it places man in his tru-
est relations to the world in which he
lives. And he who is insensible to
these pleasures, must lack some chord
in the harp of humanity, worshiping,
if he worship, at some strange shrine.

Lime-juice as an artiele of commerce
should be one of the products of our
Queensland orchards. The Lime-tree
grows well, and bears abundantly, in
this country. They are not nearly so
troublesome as Orange-trees in their
cultivation. Pruning, except so far as
removing dead branches is concerned,
is not required. It will thrive in poor
soils, although a rich soil is more con-
genial to it. The Ljjne-juice is pre-
pared in the most simple manner. The
Planter*? Gazette gives the following as
the sum total of the labor required:
' * The fruits are submitted to the press-
ure of a mill of no great power, and
boiling down the resulting juice — which
may be kept a great length of time
without deteriorating — to the re-
quired density, and putting it into casks
for exportation. The density, which
has been found most satisfactory in Do-
minica, is reached by boiling down to
one-eighth its original volume. In Ja-
maica, Lime-juice has been of late years
concentrated and shipped to America,
to be used in fixing certain dyes. The
exports in 1874 amounted to 107,558
gallons, of the value of £5,378." —
Queenslander.

[Some portions of California are very
similar in climate to Australia. — Ed.]

Striking Rose Cuttings in Sand. —
You want a deep saucer, or soup plate,
that will hold an inch depth of sand ;
then make cuttings, with one or more
buds, from an inch to two inches long,
and stick them in the damp sand ; if
they are so close as to touch each other
all the better. Sprinkle on water from
a watering pot until the sand is as wet
as mud, and set the whole in a window,
where it will have plenty of sun. Cut-
tings of plants with soft stems, like
Verbenas, Heliotropes, and Fuchsias,
should be put in when very young and \

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

359

tender. Plants root very quickly in
this way, if you do not forget to keep
the sand "wet all the time. If it once
dries up you will have to begin over
again. At the end of a week a cutting
of each kind may be taken out to see
how it is doing. "When they show a
thread of a root, they must be set out
in good soil. Some will take root in a
week or ten* days, and others will take
two or three weeks. But don't forget
to keep the sand very wet all the time.

Strawberries as a Boeder. — The Val-
ley Farmer says that it affords a happy
combination of beauty, utility, and con-
venience to border the garden walks
with Strawberries. A single row of
plants, set one foot from . the edge of
the walk, will, if properly cared for,
give a close border two feet wide the
second year. Draw a line on each side
after the runners begin to root, cut the
edges straight and keep them so. You
thus not only economize space which
might not otherwise be used, and make
the garden attractive, but get your fruit
where it can be picked from the walks,
which, if properly made of coal ashes
or gravel, will always be dry, and very
convenient to use a stool in. Two
walks thus bordered through the centre
of even a small garden, each way, will
give a family a good supply of this
most delicious of fruits. [This mode is
especially adapted to the borders of a
kitchen garden. — Ed.]

Flowers. — Among all the pleasant
things of life — and the all - bountiful
hand of Providence has scattered the
path of our days with innumerable
pleasant things, if man would but en-
joy them — among all the pleasant
things of life, there are few more pleas-
ant than a walk in the flower-garden
before breakfast on a sunshiny morn-

ing. To see those mute and still,
though not motionless, creatures — we
mean the blossoms — opening their
painted bosoms to the beneficent rays
which give them their color and their
loveliness, welcoming the calm bless-
ings of the light, as if with gratitude,
and seeking, in their tranquil state of
being, for nothing but the good gifts of
God, might well afford a monitory les-
son; for everything in nature has its
homily, to us, the eager hunters after
fictitious enjoyment. How calm do
they stand in their loveliness, how
placid in their limited fruition of the
elements that nourish them — how, in
their splendid raiment, do they sparkle
in the sun, how do they drink up the
cup of dew, and gratefully give back
honey and perfume in return. — Eliza
Cook's Journal.

Striking Cuttings — Easy Mode. — The
Rural Neio Yorker gives in substance
the following method, which has been
found remarkably easy: " Take a flower-
pot about eight inches in diameter, in-
vert a saucer within it large enough to
rest against the sides half way down,
or lower, which is better than using
broken crocks or stones. This drain-
age is necessary where there is no bot-
tom heat. Then fill to the brim with
very coarse sifted sand. Place the pot
in a strong light, and saturate the sand
a few hours with water, providing a
proper vessel for drainage. Make the
cuttings from two to five inches long, re-
taining more leaves in autumn than
earlier, but stripping them off nearly to
the top, and insert them half an inch in
depth, about twenty to the pot. New
buds in time will show that roots are
formed, when they are to be lifted out
with a teaspoon, and set in small pots
of 'rich sandy soil, avoiding clayey soil,
which will become too hard. If too

360

THE CALIFOKNIA HORTICULTURIST.

many leaves are left on the cutting,
they will be likely to droop. Septem-
ber is a good time for this work."

Stir the Soil. — "If I had to preach
a sermon on horticulture," says Down-
ing, " I should take this for my text:
'Stir the soil.'" In dry weather it is
very essential that the soil should be
stirred often. The air waters the fresh
dug soil much more effectually than we
can do. A man will raise more moist-
ure with a spade and a hoe in a day
than he can pour on the earth out of a
watering-pot in a week. If the ground
is suffered to become close and com-
pact, the cool surface exposed to the
air for the reception of moisture is
too small, and what is deposited does
not enter into the earth far enough to
be appropriated ; but if the soil be
loose and porous the air enters more
deeply and deposits its moisture be-
neath the surface. Almost any soil in
which a seed will germinate, may be
made by continued hoeing to produce a
crop. Above all, cut away every weed
that appears. "One year's seeding
makes seven years' weeding." The
only use of weeds is to make a necessi-
ty of tilling the soil more frequently. —
Ferry's Catalogue.

Tamarinds. — Of all the ornamental
trees propagated among us, either na-
tive or foreign, there is none, in my
judgment, more desirable than the
Tamarind. Its growth is rapid ; its
form symmetrical ; its foliage beauti-
fully delicate, and altogether it is high-
ly ornamental. Besides, it is perfectly
free from blight as well as from the
depredations of insects. If cultivated
on our Southern plains, it would doubt-
less form a valuable acquisition. The
seed may be sown in drills about four
inches apart, and covered from two to

three inches deep, with light rich soil.
When grown to a height of three or
four feet, the young trees may be trans-
planted to the sites where they are per-
manently to remain.

European horticulturists have recent-
ly adopted a mode of making Rose cut-
tings root more certainly, by bending
the shoots and inserting both ends into
the ground, leaving a single bud uncov-
ered at the middle and on the surface
of the ground. The cuttings are about
ten inches long, and are bent over a
stick laid flat on the ground, holes be-
ing dug on each side of the stick for
the reception of the ends of the shoots.
The roots form only at the lower end
of the shoots, but the other end being
buried prevents evaporation and drying
up.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,
Foe the Month ending Octobek 31, 1876.
(Prepared for The Hohxictji/tukist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
18 Market Street.)

BAKOMETEE.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.09 in.

do 12 m 30.09

do 3 P. if 30.09

do 6 p.m 30.08

Highest point on the 29th at 3 p.m 30.24

Lowest point on the 27th at 6 p. M 29.90

THEEMOMETEE.
( With north exposure and free from reflected heat. J

Mean height at 9 a. m 61°

do 12 m 66°

do 3 p. m 66°

do 6 p. m 60°

Highest point on the 23d at 3 p.m 74°

Lowest point on the 31st at 6 p. m 54°

SELF-BEGISTEEING THEEMOMETEE.

Mean height during the night 50°

Highest point at sunrise on the 9th 54°

Lowest point at sunrise on the 6th 43°

WINDS.
North and north-west on 3 days; south and south-west
on 11 days; west on 17 days.

WEATHEE.
Clear all day 8 days; cloudy ail day 10 days; variable
on 13 days; rain on 7 days.

EAIN GAUGE. Inches.

16th 0.43

17th 0.51

18th 0.20

25th 0.04

2Gth 0.12

27th 1.19

28th 0.20

Total 2.G9

Previously reported 0.29

Total up to date 2.9S

m

Eucalyptus Globu

(Australian Blue Gum.)

LUS,

THE

AND FLORAL MAGAZINE.

Vol. VI. SAN FRANCISCO, DECEMBER, 1876. No. 12.

FOSSIL BOTANY.

BY GEOLOGIST.

The progress of geology has develop-
ed the elements of what may be con-
sidered a rather recent science — that of
fossil botany. The subject is highly
curious to any inquiring mind. Who
can read accounts, or examine the re-
mains of vegetation, sometimes of co-
lossal proportions, differing entirely in
appearance, and in some respects in
structure, from any now growing on
the earth, without a desire to learn
more concerning them. Some of the
antediluvian plants were highly curi-
ous in their form and structure, and
must have been remarkably beautiful in
their appearance. Others were similar
to species now growing, or recent spe-
cies— so called by the botanist to dis-
tinguish them from those which no
longer grow, termed extinct species.
The Ferns compose the most numerous
family of vegetation found as organic
remains, some of which closely resem-
ble recent species, though none have
been found which can be considered as
more than types of those now existing.
The argillaceous nodules, or balls of

Vol. VI.- 24.

clay, found in some of the English coal
mines — the great depositories of fossil
plants — often exhibit very perfect im-
pressions or casts of these Ferns. In
most instances they appear to have been
produced in tropical climates. This is
inferred from the fact, that in hot coun*
tries their nearest living analogies are
to be found, though, as we have before
stated, identical recent species have not
been discovered. When these nodules
are carefully broken, the impressions
are seen preserved on both faces of the
clay, but, contrary to expectations, not
displaying each side of the leaf or stem,
but the same side on each broken sur-
face; on the one in alto, and on the
other in basso relievo, or slightly de-
pressed on one side, and slightly raised
on the other. The best explanation of
this curious circumstance which long
puzzled observers, appears to be the
following : The vegetable matter, in
passing through its bituminous change,
first became softened, and filled its own
mould between the walls of clay with
the liquid or deliquescent substance
thus produced; this subsequently be-
came hardened, and adhered to one
side of the clay, which, on being brok-
en, shows the surface of the adherent

362

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

bituminous cast, while the other dis-
plays the corresponding mould.

It is well known to geologists that
nearly all the plants, particularly those
of the cryptogamous tribes, as the
Ferns and Algee, or seaweed, now found
in geological formations in all parts of
the earth, indicate by their increased
proportions, the influence of tropical
regions. Moisture and heat appear to
be the conditions of the largest devel-
opment of these plants. Thus, the
Ferns, as the brake (Pte'ris), or poly-
pody (Potypodium), grow in our cli-
mate only from four to six feet in height,
nor have we any individual of this tribe
in this country which attains more
than twice that stature. But in the
hottest countries, as in tropical Ameri-
ca and in the East Indies, the arbores-
cent or Tree Ferns, though belonging
to the same family as our own, attain
the altitude of forest trees, with stems
of eight or ten inches in diameter. On
the stairs of the British Museum, Lon-
don, there is an arborescent Fern which
came from Bengal, measuring forty-five
feet in height. In the ardent climate
of South America, Baron Humboldt, to
his astonishment, saw immense groves
of a similar colossal growth, and it may
well be supposed that nothing in the
vegetable world can present to the eye
of the traveler a more beautiful, inter-
esting, and imposing scene. At our
late Mechanics' Exhibition here we ob-
served some fine specimens of Tree
Ferns, and they are still at one of our
florist's establishments in this city.

In the fossil state in cold climates,
similar Ferns, as have been mentioned,
are found at the present day. They
are abundant in the coal mines of En-
gland, France, and Germany; and in
this country near the Canada line, as
well as in Siberia, similar phenomena
occur. Now, it might be suppose,!, re-

ferring to the general deluge for an ex-
planation, that transportation of these
plants by water, from their native coun-
try to the place where they are found,
would readily account for these facts;
but the plausibility of this theory is at
once swept away by another fact, which
is this : These Ferns are sometimes
found standing in the identical spots
where they grew, their roots still in-
serted into the earth, as in their life-
time, but equally with their stems and
leaves petrified into stone. The only
consistent solution of the difficulty ap-
pears to be in the theory, that the tem-
perature of the earth was once much
higher than it now is, and that the cli-
mate of the region in which these fossil
remains are now discovered, was of the
same nature with that in which their
analogical recent brethren are now pro-
duced— a theory the truth of which, at
present, we shall neither affirm nor de-
ny, and for a discussion of which this
is not the place. Although allusion
has been made in the foregoing remarks
to the Ferns only, yet there are several
other families of plants to which the
same circumstances are equally applica-
ble. Among these are the Equisetums,
a tribe well known. A little straight
species, of the size of a pipe-stem, is
known by the name of Scouring Rush,
and from the quantity of silicious mat-
ter in its outer covering is sometimes
made serviceable in polishing metal.
To this family belongs the Calamite,
which is now only found in a fossil
state, and which once attained the mag-
nitude of a forest tree. Specimens of
the same species occur in the coal for-
mations at Newcastle, England, at Lu-
bec, near Canada, and at Dunnville,
Canada (found by the writer), in France,
and in Siberia, showing the wide ex-
tent over which this plant was spread,
at a time when heat and moisture seem

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

363

to have pervaded the whole earth, and
to have given to this family, like the
Ferns, a gigantic size, while in this cli-
mate no recent species become more
than three or four feet high, with di-
ameters seldom attaining an inch.

THE STOCK (31ATE0LA).

Few plants are better known than the
species and varieties included under
the general name of Stocks and Stock-
gilliflowers. The genus is named from
Peter Andrew Mathioli, an Italian bot-
anist. The plants belonging to it are
generally covered with a white, soft
down, and are among the most popular
of garden flowers. There are an im-
mense number of varieties, both single
and double, of the above species. Some
of the single ones are white, some pur-
ple, some crimson, some spotted, and
others striped.

This is a plant growing from one to
two feet high, with an erect branching
stem, hoary leaves, and long spikes of
flowers, the size and richness of color
of which differ greatly in the several
varieties, some of them being very
splendid. The species is a native of
the south of Europe, by the sea shore,
whence it was introduced in 1731 ; but
the principal varieties have been origin-
ated in England and Germany. The
German varieties are particularly beau-
tiful, and the seed saved in that coun-
try and in California, from the greater
heat of the summers compared with
England, is very superior. Home-sav-
ed seed can hardly be depended on, as
where several varieties are cultivated
together, spurious ones are made by the
wind carrying the pollen from one
plant to another, and the seed can nev-
er be kept true. Regular seed growers
preserve only the plants with the best
flowers, and throw the others away.

To produce the finest flowers, the seed
should be sown here in the spring or
summer, in a bed of rather light soil,
which should be covered with a frame ;
or the seed may be sown in pots, four
or five in a pot, and placed in a cold
frame, or in a greenhouse without arti-
ficial heat. A cold frame is a pit or
frame covered with glass, but not heat-
ed by manure, or in any other manner.
The plants when they come up should
be kept dry during the fall and summer
months to strengthen them, and late
in the winter or early in the spring they
should be taken out of their beds, with
a ball of earth around their roots, or if
in a pot, turned out with the earth en-
tire, and planted in a tolerably warm
border in very rich garden soil. The
poorer soil in which they were raised
will have previously checked their
growth; but planting them in the rich
soil after this previous check will make
them grow luxuriantly, and produce
rich spikes of flowers early in the sum-
mer.

Those persons who wish to have fine
Stocks to flower early in the summer or
late in the spring, but who have no
frame to raise them in, or indeed, like
most of our city dwellers, do not like
the trouble of keeping plants during
the winter in their window conservato-
ries or their greenhouses, will find it
the best plan to purchase young plants
in May or June, and to plant them in
rich soil. These autumn sown plants
have, however, the disadvantage of fad-
ing very soon, when exposed to the heat
of summer in the interior, though in
San Francisco this is not often com-
plained of. In too warm locations in
the California valleys their fibrous roots
wither, their purple or crimson colors
becoming blotched or blemished by the
sun. From this disadvantage spring-
sown plants are generally free. If

364

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

sown in February.. March, or April, in
rather dry poor soil, they may be trans-
planted in April or May, taking care to
preserve the earth about the roots, and
not to injure the fibres, though in some
cases the extreme point of the top-root
may be taken off, to induce it to throw
out more fibres. Other seeds may be
sown later, which will not need trans-
planting, and which will continue flow-
ering for a long time. Some persons,
to produce large flowers, take off the
side-shoots as they appear, and thin
the blossom buds on the flower spike,
by taking off every alternate bud ; and
others water with liquid manure, and
use other means to produce fine plants.
In whatever manner they are treated,
it must always be remembered that they
require great care in transplanting, and
that this should be done when they are
quite young. The general rule is, that
they are fit for transplanting when they
have opened their second pair of leaves,
and that it should not be delayed long-
er than a little after the third pair is
produced. When large plants are re-
moved, it should always be with such a
ball of earth attached that the roots
may experience no check from the re-
moval. When the Stocks are planted
out in the borders for flowering, they
are generally placed three together in
an augular form, so as to allow room
for a stake to be placed in the centre to
tie them to, if necessary.

INSECT KAVAGES.

Cultured, scientific, potential man,
"lord of the creation," master of the
world, is so frequently rendered abso-
lutely powerless by apparently insignifi-
cant causes, that he becomes almost an
object of ridicule. Great and won-
drous, in many respects, as have been
his achievements in the various fields of

science, he, nevertheless, finds himself
utterly helpless and incapable of con-
tending successfully against the aggres-
sions of certain insect hosts that prey
upon his possessions, and feed upon
the "sweat of his brow," with as much
impunity as if they were the rightful
lords of the manor. What resource of
man, what amount of effort on his part,
ever snatched his bread from the vora-
cious jaws of the myriad of locusts that
have from time to time ruined and de-
vastated certain countries? When or
where has he discovered any sufficient
check to the grasshopper legions that
in a very short time convert a blooming,
fruitful country into a howling wilder-
ness? What means has he ever devised
to trace and prevent the ravages of the
wood ant, which devours houses, furni-
ture, and all sorts of woods, honey-
combing them in the most thorough
manner, and leaving nothing but the
shell? What measure of assured suc-
cess has he achieved in stopping the de-
vastations of the potato-bug and others
of that class ? References to Holy Writ
will show that, in the majority of cases,
the insect and reptile tribes were em-
ployed by the Supreme Being to punish
entire nations, and bring them to a
sense of their nothingness. And now
comes a new and terrible scourge in the
shape of an unsightly louse, which con-
sumes the sap of the vine, and is de-
stroying incredible amounts of property
that has been slowly amassed by the
patient labor and industry of the lords
of creation.

Intelligence of an alarming character
has been received from many districts
in France, and other portions of wine-
producing Europe, in reference to the
terrible inroads of the Phylloxera. The
Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce has
been diligently collecting a mass of in-
formation on this subject, and in their

THE CALIFORNIA. HORTICULTURIST.

365

report they say, that the entire wine in-
terests of France are seriously threat-
ened by this apparently ineradicable
pest. Their work of destruction has
been carried to such an extent in the
Department of the Gironde that the
value of lands has been reduced one-
half, and the wine crop will not exceed
the tenth part of what they would oth-
erwise have the right to expect. The
French Government, several years ago,
offered a reward of 300,000 francs for a
remedy or preventive against this great
evil, but up to the present date no sat-
isfactory progress has been made in any
quarter toward insuring relief. Piqued
by the seemingly insignificant nature of
the foe, animated by the ambition to
confer a great benefit and achieve a
great reputation, and stimulated by the
hope of reward, hosts of scientific men,
eminent chemists, skilled naturalists,
and learned societies have exhausted
their efforts, and acknowledge them-
selves baffled.

The Phylloxera has not only made its
appearance in California, but in several
sections of the State, notably in Sono-
ma, has already committed grave depre-
dations. Our viticulturists are pain-
fully exercised w7ith apprehensions for
the future, and, if we judge by the in-
jury done in other countries, not with-
out good cause. There is a grand niche
in the Temple of Fame, a high place
upon the Roll of Honor — wealth, rank,
and glory — for the man who can suc-
cessfully combat and defeat the Phyl-
loxera.

LEAF CUEL IN PEACH TREES.

Every year in California we observe
in many parts of the country, especial-
ly where the trees are exposed to cold
and violent winds, this defect to the eye
and doubtless some injury to the fruit,

in the Peach. In this climate very cold
and uncomfortable days in early spring,
weather in which an overcoat is a ne-
cessary appendage to one's bodily well
being, with winds from the north or
northwest, driving clouds and fog from
the ocean, with the chilly air charged
w7ith mist from northern icy climes, are
the causes, we think, of this deleterious
and unsightly malady. Then, if indi-
cations of the blight do not commence
on the Peach blossoms, the rough hand-
ling of the winds and cool moisture,
often bode unfavorable omens to the
coming crop.

Generally after the young Peaches
begin to show themselves, and the
weather becomes mild and warm, and
the storms of the north winds abate, the
curl of the Peach leaf commences, and
progresses rapidly until nearly every
one existing upon the trees during the
gales become completely crimpled. We
have often examined the curled leaves,
and could never discern any indication
of animal life in any form among them.
Sometimes when the calamity is very
severe, but this seldom happens here
on our slope, the leaves gradually drop
from the trees, and nearly all fall off;
but we have observed that new shoots
speedily burst forth, and appear green
and healthy. There may possibly be
different causes for the curl in the Peach
leaf, but we feel confident that the cold
north and north- westerly winds in the
months of March or April produce the
blight on the leaf, followed by the curl.
The violent and long- continued cold
winds cause stagnation in the minute
sap-vessels of the leaves, which produ-
ces premature decay and curling, and
occasionally falling off, as in autumn.

The bodies and leaves of trees have
their sap-vessels for the same purpose
that animals have their blood-vessels;
whatever takes place to the injury of

366

THE CALIFORNIA HOBTICULTUKIST.

either, in such manner as to destroy
the circulation, will produce disease or
mortification of the affected part as well
in trees as in animals. The work of
mischief above described comes too
suddenly to be the effects of insects,
and it is at a season that is unfavorable
to their propagation and operations.
It can not be caused by the effects of
our temperate winders on the trees in
this State, for our winters are always
favorable, and we have seen young
seedling Peaches seriously affected in
the leaves, while every part of the tree,
both root and branch, were perfectly
sound.

As there has been considerable dis-
cussion upon the Peach leaf curl by our
writers upon the subject of fruit trees,
we have thought it possible that some
light might be shed by the above re-
marks, which are carefully made from
extended observation.

LOVE OF PLANTS AND FLOWEES IN
OUE MIDST.

It does not require much close obser-
vation to perceive that fine, highly, and
elaborately ornamented houses — indeed,
in some instances, rather too much of
the ginger-bread order of decoration —
are more frequent in San Francisco
than well and neatly kept gardens, al-
though climate has favored us more in
its mildness and geniality than most of
the other cities of our Union. The em-
bellishments of our dwellings are effect-
ed by artificers only, but the garden
requires more skill and love for it in the
owner (even if he employs a first-rate
gardener) than is generally seen — few
gardens being found well furnished and
tended, unless in the hands of a florist
or proprietor who really loves his floral
companions. The love of such a mas-
ter will keep alive each tender plant his

money, care, and taste have collected ;
for never was any art or excellence lik-
ed by the careless or ignorant; it is
knowledge that creates affection, and
affection increases knowledge. Love
has been the inventor, and is still the
maintainer of every noble science. It
is chiefly that which has made our trees
and flowers to flourish in the street
where we dwell, and has chiefly been
the means of the knowledge, however
comparatively limited, we now have in
plants and planting; for it is almost
impossible for any man to have any
pretty fair collection of noble and beau-
tiful plants to prosper, unless he loves
them ; for neither the excellence of the
soil, nor the advantages of the situation
or climate, will do it without the mas-
ter's affection ;' it is that which animates
and renders them strong and vigorous ;
without which they will languish and
decay through neglect, and soon cease
to be of service or pleasure to him.

We see many gardens of tolerably
good model and laying out (and some
of our public gardens, also, the Post-
office lot included), in the hands of un-
skillful persons, some of them with
good walks, fences, and grass plots, but
in the most essential adornments so de-
ficient, that a green meadow is a more
delightful object ; there Nature alone,
without the aid of art, sjDreads her ver-
dure carpets, spontaneously embroider-
ed with many pretty plants and pleas-
ing flowers, far more inviting than such
immured nothings to which we have al-
luded. And, as noble fountains, grot-
toes, statuary, etc., under proper con-
ditions are excellent ornaments and
marks of magnificence, so all such poor
and deformed attempts in gardens or
squares, ill done, are little better than
blocks in' the way to interrupt sight,
but not at all to satisfy the eye or the
understanding. A choice collection of

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

567

living beauties — rare plants on the
lawn, flowers well arranged in beds,
and shrubs, well and tastefully dispos-
ed and kept — are indeed the wealth,
glory, and delight of a garden or park,
and the most absolute indication of the
owner's or manager's ingenuity, whose
skill and care are chiefly required in
their choice, culture, and position ; but
to complete all, and for everything to
look well, and clean, and neat, there
must be, and remain at the foundation
of all, the love and affection of the pro-
prietor, or hired gardener, but chiefly
in the proprietor for his floral protegees,
which require incessant attention, care,
and solicitude in order to continue to
prosper and look well.

JAPANESE GAKDENS.

Among the conifers will be noted
young plants of that Japanese species
which may be seen under the wing of
the Japanese building — quaint pigmies
of trees, not three feet high, yet over
seventy years old. They are gnarled
and twisted as if they had fought the
winds and caught their picturesqueness
of form — as old Oaks catch theirs — by
battling with tempests and wintry
storms upon the hills. And yet these
dwarfed trees are thoroughly creatures
of art. By examining closely the spe-
cimens in the Japanese ground, you
will see traces of the dwarfing process.
The leading shoots have been clipped,
or bent downward; the lateral branch-
es turned in and tied back ; lusty limbs
twisted and wrenched into quaint pos-
tures ; marks of the torturing-pins and
bands and cuts are still observable ; it
is a crippled dwarf of a tree, made
quaint and picturesque by its years of
struggle against the toils of the gar-
dener.
Is there a compensating beauty in

them? Not, surely, as we reckon the
beauty of plant growth. But consider,
that the Japanese, in their horticultur-
al system, have offices for such dwarfed
monarchs of trees to fill. With them,
no homestead is complete without its
garden; a few square rods may be all
at command; but this area must have
its golden treatment; and the gardens
are modeled after . nature. San-sui —
mountain and water — is the term which
in Japanese describes the gardeners'
work. The aim is — within, however,
a limited area — to present a complete
landscape, with rock, valley, plain, wa-
ter, and mountain. Under such minia-
ture presentment, trees and plants
must be dwarfed to bear proper rela-
tions to the dwarfed valleys and rocks.
To such an extent is this copying of
nature in little carried by enthusiastic
gardeners that a rocky landscape, with
its heights and level spaces and trees,
is wrought out, with nice attention to
proportions, within the limits of a great
bronze basin. TTe doubt if gardeners
of the West will emulate them in their
mimicry of nature ; but they may well
emulate the painstaking skill which
makes such small successes possible,
and the assiduous care, and the close
study of plant-life, which are enforced
by such arts. — Scribner's Magazine.

The Blue Gum in Ireland. — The
Australian Eucalyptus globulus promises
to be profitable timber in the south of
Ireland. AtMuckross, Killarney, there
are specimens thirty to forty feet high,
which have never been injured by frost,
and in Wicklow a proprietor finds it
succeed so well that he contemplates
extensive plantations of it. If it can
only be induced to take to bog-soil it
will be of incalculable value to the
country.

368

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

^0tl and (&m\.

SPORTSMAN'S CLUB OF CALIFORNIA.

There have been two meetings of this
useful and flourishing Society since we
made our last report. On the 3d of
October notice was given that the Board
of Directors had resolved to close the
fishing for the season at Lakes Pilarcitos
and San Andreas on the 16th of that
month. The fishing in Lake Merced
was continued until further notice.
Quite good sport had been enjoyed
there by members and others, some
Lake Tahoe trout having been captured
both by trolling and bait- fishing, weigh-
ing from three to nine pounds, and fair-
ly good fishing there still continues. It
was announced at the meeting that the
Club had imported 250,000 salmon ova
from the McCloud River, which were
being now, with another lot lately sent,
successfully hatched at Lake Honda,
the Spring Valley Water Company hav-
ing kindly granted the Club the free
use of the necessary ground and water
at that lake for the purpose. The Cen-
tral Pacific Railroad and Wells, Fargo
& Co. brought the eggs from McCloud
River free of charge, for which liberali-
ty the meeting expressed its apprecia-
tion.

The following gentlemen were elect-
ed members of the Club at the above
two meetings, and one previously in
September : Messrs. Et V. Joice, Joel

F. Lightner, and William P. Dewey,
M. L. Brittan, William Craig, Henry
H. Haight, J. T. Goodman, John O.
Ferrall, Richard T. Maxwell, M. D.,
Benjamin W. Brown, Richard Horn-
fray, Crittenden Robinson, and George
Clabrough.

All the salmon eggs received had
hatched well, and the fish seemed
healthy. It is worth a trip to Lake
Honda, where they are, to see them.
The proposal to buy a scow for shoot-
ing purposes was referred to a com-
mittee, which did not recommend its.
purchase in the present infant condition
of the Society, The members of this
valuable and prosperous Club number
several over 200, and their funds in
hand amount to a considerable figure.
We hope to see all its concerns manag-
ed with a judicious economy, in order
to continue to advance its interests and
usefulness in every way, and in contin-
uing to supply the lakes with young fish
in sufficient quantity to insure good
sport in future years.

THE GROWTH OF SALMON.

A history of the growth of the salm-
on from the small ova or eggs, may be
interesting in this place. Each adult
female salmon lays from 800 to 1,000
eggs to every pound of her weight. In
their healthy condition, the eggs are
generally of a pinky or amber color,

THE CALIFOKXIA HORTICULTURIST.

369

•with opalescent hues, semi-transparent,
and exceedingly pretty in their effect.
Sometimes, however, the eggs are very
pale — nearly white in color ; others,
again, are of a bright coral red ; but all
that have a peculiar transparent irides-
cent hue are unmistakably healthy eggs.
A tough, horny membrane is the "shell"
•which holds the embryo salmon and
preserves it from injury. This external
shell is exceedingly elastic; an egg
dropped on the floor will rebound like
an India rubber ball.

For a month or so no change is ap-
parent in the healthy egg, as it lies in
its bed of gravel in the running stream
■where it has been deposited by the
mother, with the temperature of the
•water at about 45°. The eyes of the
fish appear in forty or fifty days ; these
may be perceived as two small, black
specks; and in another three or four
days a faint red line is apparent, run-
ning round the interior of one side of
the egg, and in the centre a small red
globule appears. The thin red line
represents the vertebrae of the fish, just
forming; and the red globule is a mi-
nute quantity of oil, which is destined
to be absorbed by the fish after it comes
out of the shell.

Gradually the faint indications of life
within the semi-transparent shell be-
come more marked till, about twenty
days after the first appearance of the
eyes, the fish bursts its prison. It now
presents a most ludicrous appearance,
with the lower side of its slender trans-
parent body affixed to an oval sac which
it carries wherever it goes. The vital
organs of the fish can be distinctly seen;
the pulsations of the heart are easily
perceptible; and the rapid vibrations of
the gills show that it is, for the first
time, breathing just as an adult fish
breathes. The empty " shells," as they
float about in the water, showing the

rent by which the young fish breaks its
prison bonds, now appear like little bits
of an India rubber air-ball, or portions
of the white membrane found inside the
shell of a hen's egg.

The fry are now all alive and as act-
ive as fish can be. Some of them will
be found with their tails turned up in
an impudent manner; others bear their
bodies in a becomingly staid longitud-
inal position; while others are strange-
ly deformed. These unfortunates are
unable to swim in a straight line, and
can only turn round and round as on a
pivot in one spot, lying all the time on
their side, instead of swimming up-
right, and falling helpless to the bot-
tom as soon as they cease their efforts
at locomotion. These cripples gener-
ally die ; though some of them, no
doubt, arrive at maturity, as is proved
by the instances — rare, it is true — of de-
formed salmon, with the backbone bent
and crooked in various ways.

But the most curious instances of
mal-formation are the fishy " Siamese
twins." A double-headed creature is
of frequent occurrence in a family of
baby salmon, but these enormities sel-
dom survive more than three or four
days, though instances have been met
with of a longer term of existence being
given to these '* monsters."

For some time after birth, the young
fish do not seem to grow very fast; they
are exceedingly active, and, though
burdened with the umbilical vesicle,
they swim swiftly about, rushing for a
few seconds, and suddenly falling again
to the bottom of the stream; they are
unable to rest without touching the
bottom.

Young fry do not require any food,
for nature has provided it with a com-
missariat of its own. This vesicle or
sac contains an albuminous secretion
similar to white of egg, and a small

370

THE CALIFOKNIA HOETICULTUEIST.

globule of oil, the whole of which is
gradually absorbed into the system.
After six weeks of this self-sustaining
process have elapsed, the outer skin of
the bag appears to diminish in size as
the body of the fish increases. — Cham-
bers' Journal.

THE FISHERMAN'S CLASSIC.

On the 9th of August, 1593, was born
at Shallowford, near Stafford, Izaak
Walton, the author of that charming
book, the " Compleat Angler." Little
is known of his history. He is first
found keeping a small linen-draper's
shop in the Royal Exchange, London.
Thence, after various vicissitudes, he
retired to his native place. Gifted with
a poetic fancy, and being a keen lover
of rural sports, the leisure he now en-
joyed enabled him to impart to others
a sense of the enjoyment he himself felt
in his favorite pastime of angling.
Accordingly, in 1653, appeared the
• ' Compleat Angler, or the Contempla-
tive Man's Recreation," a book which,
according to Hallam, " has never since
been rivaled in grace, humor, and in-
vention." The work on its first appear-
ance at once secured the public heart,
and still continues to be one of the
most popular of the English classics.
Though by no means the first writer
upon piscatorial subjects, "Walton hap-
pily intermingled his precepts on the
art of angling with lofty yet cheerful
morality, and a wealth of fancy which,
as applied to the subject, has never
been surpassed. Prior to him, Dame
Juliana Berners, Gervase Markham,
and notably Thomas Barker, Walton's
own instructor in fishing, had written
on the gentle art, and their books were
always popular ; but they have none of
them retained public favor, as has "old
Izaak." He and Cotton (who added a

second part to the " Compleat Angler"
in the fifth edition of the book ) are
looked up to at present, as they have
been for generations, by all anglers as
their tutelary deities, the Gemini of the
angling zodiac. Walton seems to have
known as little of fly-fishing as he did
of salmon -fishing; therefore, Cotton,
who resided on the Dove, and had a
long experience in all that relates to
fly-fishing, the crown of the angler's art,
supplied the deficiency. His portion is
pitched in a much lower key, whether
of moral purpose or imaginative power,
but very fairly continues the plan on
which his great master had worked.

The first edition of Walton appeared
in 1653, since which time the " Com-
pleat Angler" has been reprinted in
every size and form, from that suited to
the waistcoat pocket up to Pickering's
magnificent edition, illustrated by Stot-
hard. It has, moreover, been furnish-
ed with notes, appendices, elucidations,
and the like, by numberless anglers
and bookmakers, overlaid with abund-
ance of details, which have often well-
nigh smothered the text. Mr. West-
wood, writing in 1864, enumerates fif-
ty-three editions of the book — one in
rather more than every three years of
its life, which speaks volumes for its
popularity. At length, to satisfy the
curious, there has been produced by
Elliott Stock, a London publisher, a
fac-simile reprint of the original work.
This book, coated in old-fashioned bind-
ing, and containing the original engrav-
ed plates of fish, struck off by a novel
application of photography, is a bibli-
ophilist's delight in every particular.
Even the curious red and blue sprink-
ling of the edges is conformed to that
of Walton's original edition. With
this book in his pocket the angler can
recline under the pollards at noonday,
while eating his frugal meal, and at

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

371

once transport himself 200 years back
into the time of the Cavaliers and Pur-
itans.

Few books have suffered so complete
a change of form, and survived so many
additions without losing their first fra-
grance as has this. The " Compleat
Angler," on its original entry into the
world, consisted of 246 pages, or thir-
teen chapters, clad in modest brown
calf, and illustrated by half a dozen
admirably engraved plates of fish.
These were indeed said, but it is
thought without any foundation for the
assertion, to have been engraved on
plates of silver. All these plates and
the due number of pages, even down to
bad spellings and the like, are faithful-
ly reproduced in this quaint little fac-
simile of 1876. It tells us, as the orig-
inal charged its readers, that " fishers
must not rangle," nor " be nice to fowl
their fingers;" and it reprints the curi-
ous music of the angler's song (treble
being one way down the page, and base
looking in the opposite direction, to
enable two people to sing from the
same book), which is by Mr. Henry
Lawes, a name that once recalls Comus
to the scholar. Lawes composed its
music, and is himself celebrated in it
as one

Who with his soft pipe and smooth-dittied song,
Well knows to still the wild winds when they

roar,
And hush the waving woods.

Walton all but rewrote the book in the
second edition, adding a third (190 pa-
ges, according to Westwood's " Bibli-
otheca Piscatoria ") to it, and four new
plates of fishes. Viator, the disciple of
the first edition, now becomes Venator
the hunter ; and Auceps (the fowler) is
a new creation, which enables Walton
to introduce some of the most exquisite
passages of his book on the nightin-
gale, skylark, and other birds. Thus

the book as known at present consists
of twenty-one chapters, and the whole
process of dove-tailing and tacking on
of additions is a singular instance of a
good book being used as the germ of a
second edition, and not spoiled in the
operation. — Chambers' Journal.

AN OPINION ABOUT FLY FISHING.

I love fly-fishing, because it is a fish-
ing divested of much of its cruelty. I
mean, of course, the artificial fly. It is
all very fair to catch a voracious fish,
while he is endeavoring to gobble up
what he supposes a nice little fly. I
always disliked to use live bait, and
never did when I could avoid it. Wal-
ton had many good feelings, and in in-
structing you how to impale a frog in
such a manner as to keep the poor devil
alive as long as possible, he pathetical-
ly urges it upon you to " use him as
though you loved him ; " for which affec-
tionate admonition he has been sneered
at most unmercifully by half a dozen
people, who, although they may be
very accomplished writers, are no fish-
ermen. But in my early days I learn-
ed more humanity from Thomson than
from any other person, and for a long
time, whenever I thought of going fish-
ing, I had humming in my ears :

" But let not on your hook the tortured worm,
Convulsive, twist in agonizing fold;
Which by rapacious hunger swallowed deep,
Gives, as you tear it from the bleeding breast
Of the weak, harmless, uncomplaining wretch,
Harsh pain, and horror to the tender hand."

These lines saved many a worm. It was
Thomson, I think, who some lady said
showed plainly in his works that he
was a great fisherman and a great swim-
mer; but who, notwithstanding the
lady's sagacity, judging from his works,
never took a fishing rod in his hands,
and never went into water. Thomson's
worm puts me in mind of a time when

372

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

I was toying to entice into my pouch
some trout from the Choconut Creek.
They we're shy, and I thought I would
try some other bait, and looking around
I found a worm. My head had been
running on mixed mathematics and the
doctrine of chances — a foolish thing to
puzzle one's self with when fishing. As
I sauntered along, I had been proving
to myself that the probability of two
subsequent events both happening, is
equal to the product of the probability
of the happening of those events, con-
sidered separately. Q. E. D. And
had demonstrated the thing in my head
most scholastically, when I said to my-
self, " Here is this poor worm. What
was the chance, that in the immense
extent of this globe, it should be here,
in this spot ; and in the great lapse of
time since the formation of worms, that
this very one should have existed at all;
and if existing, been here, at this point
of time; and that I — the individual I —
should be here now, of all times; and
be here in this spot of all space, for the
purpose of catching a trout. That be-
ing here, at this time, of all times past,
present, and to come, I should have
found this worm, of all the worms of
the earth, and should have put it on
this hook, among the trillions of hooks,
to catch a particular trout in this par-
ticular creek of all creeks of the world.
And yet that chance has become a cer-
tainty! Prove me that, Mr. De Moiore !
Poh! poh! 'tis all folly, and it shan't
happen; and you shan't be put on this
hook, nor be eaten by that trout, poor
little worm! Then go off with you —
wriggle away as fast as you can, and
thank the doctrine of chances for your
escape; and I'll bother myself no more
with them. I dare say it was they that
made me lose that last trout.

What fishing may be compared with
fly-Iishiug for trout in a spring brook.

overarched by Beeches, Birches, and
Elms! — the day so warm as to give a
pleasing consciousness of the protection
derived from the majestic trees ; the
water so clear as to tempt you from the
bank to walk into the stream, that runs
dancing over stones and pebbles, or.
whirling around rocks, as if for the
purpose of forming lurking places for
the trout. Tou throw your fly, and
they see it in its light descent, and dart
at it ; but one, more alert than his fel-
lows, springs out of the water and seiz-
es it before it reaches the surface. — P.
H. R., in Cabinet of Natural History and
American Rural Sports, Phil.

FIELD SHOOTING.

MY BEST DAT NEAB BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA.

" The voice of birds, the rush of wings."
Those who have read these chapters
will no doubt be interested with a de-
tailed account of the best day's shoot-
ing I ever had, or the day on which the
largest number of birds was killed ; for
scores of days would all remain coequal
in their amount of enjoyment, and it
would be folly to say that one was bet-
ter than another.

A young fellow named Miller and
I decided to shoot over Sawyer's Point,
and he built a canoe for the purpose.
The best canoe for swamp purposes is
one built of half-inch cedar in the same
style as the small punts on the Brisbane
River, and which are so useful to those
enterprising anglers who engage on ev-
ening piscatorial forays around the Vic-
toria Bridge. A shooting canoe must
be flat-bottomed to insure steadiness,
and curved at the ends to ride over the
weeds and turn instantly with one
stroke of the paddle. It should not
weigh more than 80 or 100 lbs. , and no
more than two <mns should ever be in a

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

373

canoe together under any circumstances
■whatever.

One splendid morning at daylight we
took the canoe out to the upper swamp
in a wagon, and launched it on a little
creek which ran into the swamp. Be-
fore arriving at the place I killed three
black ducks that were sitting in a little
•water -hole on the way down. On
pushing out into the swamp we face-
tiously reminded the wagoner to meet
us in the evening with all the spare
wagons and horses he could find to
bring the game home.

"We had about three thousand acres
of swamp before us, and our classic
features were illuminated with hope,
and sparkled with animation and ex-
pectation, as we glided noiselessly over
the dark still waters. About half way
out into the middle we opened fire with
appalling effect among a flock of gray
teal and red ducks. On this occasion I
shot with a favorite single barrel muz-
zle-loader, and Miller with a double-
muzzle loader, so the reader, when he
arrives at the end and reads the number
killed, will have some faint conception
of the slaughter that would have occur-
red with two double-barrel breech-load-
ers.

Further on there was a belt of reeds,
and as we pushed the canoe through
and passed out into the open water, a
bevy of swans were before us, and a lot
of red duck. Three swans and four
ducks got on board at this locality, and
we passed on down toward the channel
connecting the two swamps. The air
was full of birds in scattered flocks, and
the rushing of wings was only broken
by the three shots at regular intervals,
fast as we could load and fire. In pass-
ing through the narrow channel we
shot a magnificent musk duck, and three
swans that came flying along and met
us in that pent-up avenue came down

unanimously under the persuasive pow-
ers of three charges of No. 4. We
slowly debouched into Sawyer's Point,
among vast reed beds where no white
man had ever stood before, and over
clear still water, in places where the
eye looked down upon enormous eels
and swamp mullet and perch, gliding
about among the bunches of green
weed. Before us was an expanse of
swamp and reeds stretching away in
the distance for three miles, and bound-
ed by the line of forest beyond, and
round on the right and left.

Sawyer's Point was believed to con-
tain more geese than all the other
swamps on the Clarence put together,
and numerous were the astounding sto-
ries told by sawyers of the old days
about the denizens of that mysterious
swamp.

I knew that it was one of the favor-
ite resorts in the day time for the geese,
which left it at dusk and flew off every
evening for night feeding in the swamps
of the surrounding country, returning
at daylight in the morning. Therefore
I was prepared to see a few of them,
but certainly not for the sight which
followed.

In gliding silently round a point of
reeds, three geese got up out of a clump
of rushes, and were promptly persuad-
ed to sit down again. The scene which
followed defies description ; it was such
a one as I never looked upon before or
since. Startled by the double shot,
flock after flock of geese rose in dense
clouds away down far as the eye could
reach, and fast as the echo of the report
traveled over the swamp. The whole
air was one moving mass of geese for
more than a mile, countless myriads
rising and falling in undulating waves
as those first risen settled down and
fresh legions arose. "We looked at each
other in unutterable astonishment,

374

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

scarcely crediting the evidence of our
senses, and as if each looked to the oth-
er for confirmation. It required con-
siderable numbers to astonish either of
us, I can tell you, for we had both look-
ed Upon a few wild fowl before that
cftiy.

We pulled down the swamp, and as
geese flew, or rose, within range, they
came to an untimely end. In our ar-
dor to get within range of a large flock,
we got in among a thick mass of reeds
broken down level with the water, and
just allowing the canoe to move and no
more. We had a couple of hours' work
in getting out of these weeds, which
remain vividly impressed upon my
memory to the present day. We shot
for about three hours in that swamp,
arid killed about twenty-six geese. In
a day, with breech-loaders, probably a
hundred would have fallen.

In exploring the south side of the
swamp we found a small creek running
through a belt of scrub, and opening
into a large creek called Deer Creek,
about six miles long, and nearly as
large as the Brisbane River. It termi-
nated abruptly at one end, and was lined
on each side with dense and almost im-
penetrable scrub.

We hailed a lot of swans up in the
point, and shot them as they flew past.
We turned and pulled down the creek,
passing through scores of swans and
ducks. About a mile down the creek
we came opposite to Goose Swamp, ly-
ing back about 200 yards, a swamp
covering about 1,500 acres, and cele-
brated for the countless legions of ducks
which are found there. We were then
in country with which we were well ac-
quainted.

By that time our canoe was nearly
full of birds, so we took out over twenty
swans, and skinned them on a little
ridge between the creek and the swamp.

When passing down there three years
after, I saw the bones and skeletons of
the unfortunate victims. We carried
the canoe into Goose Swamp, and shot
over it. It is a remarkable place.
Along the centre from end to end, and
about 100 yards wide, there runs a strip
of bulrushes, which have grown and rot-
ted in successive layers until there is
such a dense accumulation of vegetable
matter that the sportsman can walk all
over, and four feet of water underneath
him. At each side there is a broad
belt of open water, covered with ducks
of all descriptions, geese, swans, and
pelicans. I was the first man who ever
entered that swamp, and when I walked
across the first belt of water, got on to
the reeds, and walked across to the out-
er edge, which looked out upon the
open water, there were swans and
ducks. before me in thousands, and so
close and tame that a pocket pistol
would have been effective. With the
first shot of a single barrel I killed five
ducks and three swans. It is a lively
place to walk in. Just under the sur-
face is a thick mass of vegetable matter,
partly made up of rotten reeds, and
partly of the hard gnarled roots of old
bulrushes. One leg would be high and
dry, and the other down about four feet.
I persuaded all my enemies from time
to time to come out and have a day in
Goose Swamp ; it lasted them during
the rest of their earthly pilgrimage. It
was enjoyment to me, but to the novice
the stocks would have been an agreea-
ble substitute.

When we arrived at the end of the
creek and left the canoe in her resting-
place for the night, we reckoned up:
twenty-seven geese, forty-seven ducks,
over thirty swans, and two dozen mis-
cellaneous. The same thing could be
done to-day in the same locality.

Ramrod..

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

375

MtM ^rtutes.

TURMERIC.

This vegetable product is obtained
from the Curcuma longa, Linn., one of
a genus of ornamental perennial-root-
ed, and annular -stemmed, herbaceous
plants of the Ginger tribe, which are
found indigenous in the open sandy
grounds of Malabar and Ceylon. The
rhizomes or tubers from which the Tur-
meric of commerce is obtained are of
two kinds, one round, the other long
or oval, from about one and a-half to
two inches long, and an inch in diame-
ter, pointed at one end, and marked
externally with numerous annular wrin-
kles. The tubers of the other species
are cylindrical, not exceeding the thick-
ness of the little finger, two or three
inches in length, somewhat contorted,
tubercular. Both kinds are yellowish
externally, and internally more or less
of an orange yellow, deepening into
reddish brown. Their fractured sur-
face has a waxy appearance. The
leaves are palmated, broad, lanceolate,
green above and leathery below; its
flower stem rises from among the leaves,
and is naked, and has commonly a
height of two feet, and its flowers grow
in a loose, lateral, cylindrical, trunca-
ted spike. The roots ■ are principally
imported into Great Britain from In-
dia, China, and Ceylon. The best
qualities are firm, short, wrinkled, and
heavy, free from worm holes, external-
ly of a yellowish ash color, and inter-
nally of a deep orange yellow. They
break with a short close fracture, which
has a waxy appearance, and are easily
pulverized. Their odor is fragrant,
somewhat similar to that of Ginger;
their taste is bitterish, aromatic, biting,
and rather acrimonious.

Turmeric root possesses tonic and car-
minative qualities, and is much used by

physicians in the East. It has a place
in the pharmacopoeia, but is now little
used. It is used in Europe as a dye
stuff, and is one of the principal ingre-
dients in Indian curry powder. "With
an alum mordaunt it imparts a beauti-
ful yellow and orange dye to cotton,
and woolen fabrics. From one of the
species, Curcuma anguslifolia, an ali- '
mentary substance is prepared in Trav-
ancore, exactly similar to arrow-root,
and so pure as to be hardly distinguish-
ed from the true article, where it is
much used as an article of food. In
consequence of the presence of an aro-
matic oil, the other species, though
abounding in fecula, are not suited to
the preparation of arrow-root. Dr.
Periera enumerates five species of this
root as those which generally find their
way into European markets, China,
Bengal, Madras, and Java Turmeric.
From the prices quoted in England at
the present time, that procured from
Java appears to be the most inferior
quality, and that of Madras the most
esteemed. The price of Java is quoted
at £10 per ton ; Bengal and Madras,
£20 and £30 respectively. Periera
calls the Madras Turmeric the most
showy of all kinds of Turmeric. The
tubers are large ; some are long, with
side branches ; others are round and
oval externally, in common with the
preceding species, marked at slight dis-
tances by transverse ridges ; but, be-
sides these, the Madras species has
slight longitudinal wrinkles. Exter-
nally the color is bright yellow, inter-
nally it resembles that exhibited by the
fracture of gamboge. This plant has
been cultivated for a number of years
in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, and
samples of Turmeric shown at the Syd-
ney Exhibition. The cultivation is
much the same as that of arrow-root,
and the plant thrives best upon a good

376

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

sandy loam. It can be successfully cul-
tivated in the neighborhood of Brisbane,
and along the coast line as far as Cape
York. W. Hill.

CHAMPAGNE MANUFACTURE.

The extra labor for the gathering is
chiefly obtained from Alsace, Lorraine,
Burgundy, and the Ardennes. The
pickers are summoned by beat of drum
at daybreak each morning in the mar-
ket-place of the villages adjacent to the
vineyards, and then and there a price
is made for the day's labor. This va-
ries according to the work required to
be done, and the speed with which it
is necessary to accomplish it. The bar-
gain struck, away go men, women, and
children into the vineyard, each pro-
vided with a small basket and a pocket-
knife curved like a reaping-hook. They
are divided into gangs, each headed by
an overseer, and as the small hand-bas-
kets are filled they are carried to the
end of the row, where specially select-
ed hands are employed in what is call-
ed dressing the grapes for the press.
In what are known as good years this
operation is considered useless, and
the manufacturer is compelled to pur-
chase the vintage, good and bad togeth-
er, just as it comes from the field. But
any such reckless system is utterly im-
possible in most of the vineyards this
year. At Verzenay, for instance, will
be found a considerable quantity of
rottenness, much worm-eaten and mil-
dewed fruit, which if pressed in its
present condition would assuredly have
the effect of tainting the wine. So the
system of dressing, happily for the man-
ufacturer, is almost universal. Each
bunch, as it is tumbled into the crate
at the side of the vineyard, is carefully
gone over by female fingers; the bad
and cankered part is rejected, diseased

stalks are pruned away, and some at-
tempt is made to send the grape to the
press in a decent condition. But even
this hurried inspection is not all that
could be desired, and the sharpest eye
is apt to be deceived, particularly in
the Yerzenay vintage of this year. We
frequently discovered in the very heart
of what looked a regular and well-
grown bunch a grape or so absolutely
rotten, and capable of infecting its
companions when they were heaped to-
gether in the press. The dressed fruit,
when carefully finished and inspected,
is quickly borne away in carts to the
nearest press, usually situated in the
village, and the refuse remaining rep-
resents the loss in quantity to the pro-
prietor. The general color of the grape
in the Beims district is black ; but there
are celebrated vineyards, such as Cra-
mont, which only grow white.

The press is a rough wooden contri-
vance, and a huge block of wood is
turned by a screw and worked usually
by a wheel, up which the men climb,
treadmill fashion. The first effect is to
reduce the heap of purple -bloomed
grapes to an ugly mash of stalk, pip,
and skin, while the juice rushes out and
runs down canals to the vats below.
The subsequent pressures of the square
cake of residue, which is cut into shape
with a spade, and is as hard and crisp
as turf, are not so liberal in the pro-
duction of wine. This operation is a
most careful and accurate process, for
the grapes when delivered at the press
are weighed, and it is known exactly
how much liquor can be produced from
this given quantity of fruit. Conse-
quently each squeeze is accurately tak-
en, and it is known to a hectolitre how
much wine is made in each day. And
what becomes of that residue of coagu-
lated mash — all pip, and stalk, and
stone, and beaten skin? It is carted

THE CALIFOKNIA HOKTICULTUEIST.

377

away to be sold for the manufacture of
cheap wines, or to distillers, to be made
into inferior brandy. The pressed juice
is now gently pumped up from the low-
er vats to larger receptacles, when the
earliest process of fermentation takes
place. It is then drawn off into barrels,
wherein a still more violent and rapid
fermentation blows out the barrel bungs
with its excitement, and then, after a
very short stay in the village, the casks
are borne away to Reims to be made
into wine. You may guess what ener-
gy and industry are bestowed upon the
earlier processes of wine-making in the
comfortable, prosperous, and well-look-
ing villages placed in the very heart of
the vineyards of Champagne, when I
tell you that in the pretty little village
of Verzenay the material for no less
than 2,000,000 bottles of champagne
passes through the press. * * *
The proprietors of the Pommery cham-
pagne manufactory were lucky enough
to possess themselves some years ago
of a deserted chalk quarry, and out of
this have been constructed, with very
slight additions and fortifications, some
of the finest — if not the very finest —
cellars in the champagne district.

It must be remembered that the ma-
ker of champagne requires immense
storage rooms. The juice of the grape
comes to him in barrels ; it leaves him
after an elaborate process of manufact-
ure in bottles, and in those alone is
champagne perfected for the market.
This delicate wine does not require cel-
lars in the ordinary and accepted use of
the term alone. They must be deep ;
they must be spacious; they must be
capable of maintaining a proper tem-
perature; they must not be cramped,
cabined, or confined, but lordly, vast,
and, before all things, high. So,
thanks to characteristic energy and a
liberal supply of capital, the water was

Vol. VI.- 25.

finally pumped out of the abandoned
pit, the intersecting tunnels were made,
the arches were shored up, the flaws
and faults in the chalk were patched,
the floors were simply concreted, -and
now as they stand the Pommery caves
are the best possible example of the
enterprise of commerce, and as good a
locality as could be found for showing
the general jDrocess by which grape
juice is made into champagne. The
first cellar is on what may be called the
ground floor, and is rather a chais than
a cave; the enormous space is delicious-
ly cool. It is, in fact, a vast hall, the
burning sun is carefully kept out; the
temperature is jealously regulated; the
windows are high and small, and there
is a sense about one of a pleasant cool-
ness, and not of any shuddering chill.
At the extreme end ®f the hall are the
offices and -the visitors' waiting-rooms,
but they occuj>y but a very little of the
main space, which is devoted to the
barrels of wine which are undergoing
the necessary process of fermentation
before they are carried to a lower depth,
and the bottling commences for the
year. Into this place the casks of
juice are brought straight from the
presses in the vineyards, and in this
stands the mighty vat or cuve in which
the various kinds are amalgamated, and
the wine of every year is made. I have
endeavored before to hint at this vital
moment in the manufacture of cham-
pagne; but let it now once more be un-
derstood that the wine is not the growth
of one district, but the product of many,
and that the difficulty of the whole bus-
iness is at the side of the cuve. A little
more of the vineyard of Ay, a little less
Verzenay, a dash of Bonzy, a suspicion
of Cramont, a thimbleful of Mailly, and
so champagne is made."

The cuve satisfactorily filled, the elab-
oration of champagne has scarcely com-

378

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

menced. The bottling takes place in
the spring time; that is to say, this
year's vintage, -which I have seen gath-
ered and pressed, and which I have
tasted in its cloying and saccharine
state before going into the cask, will
not be sufficiently fermented and fit for
the cuve until the spring of 1877. Once
the wine has passed this test it is tem-
porarily bottled, corked roughly, and
strapped about with a stout iron liga-
ture. The wine has fermented in the
cask, and will continue to do so. Ev-
ery single one out of these millions of
bottles of champagne, in their prepara-
tory state, must necessarily contain a
thick muddy deposit, and the art from
this point is to coagulate the sediment,
to twist it and turn it until it forms into
a ball, and eventually to get it up to
the top of the bottle, so that it may be
expelled with a bang when the tempo-
rary cork is taken out and the proper
one is adjusted. This gradual coagu-
lation and expulsion of the sediment is
what may be called the conjuring trick
of champagne making. It is the duty
of one person to go around the cellars,
cave after cave, and bin after bin, and
give every bottle a gentle wriggle, the
turn of yesterday having been accurate-
ly marked at the foot in chalk. In pro-
cess of time, and with much gentle
handling, the sediment gradually as-
cends to the top of the bottle, and set-
tles at the base of the cork. Once firm-
ly established there, it is expelled, cork
and all, with a pop and a bang, and
the bottle of wine is left minus its sedi-
ment, clear as a bell.

Even yet the vital moment has not ar-
rived. It is too dry at this moment
for English palates, and now comes the
time when the sweetening liqueur, com-
posed of many good things, is added to
the manufactured wine. English cham-
pagne— or rather, not to be misunder-

stood, champagne for the English mar-
ket— requires very little of this foreign
ingredient — a small percentage; Ger-
many takes its champagne very sweet,
indeed, and both Russia and France
moderately so. All this requires care
and judgment; but when as much liq-
ueur has been added as is judged suffi-
cient for each market, the bottles are
properly corked and wired, all by hand,
and are sent up stairs to be made pret-
ty for the various markets. England
likes for the decoration of its joyous
wine gold foil, pink paper, rush cases,
and wooden crates. Other countries are
partial to waxed bottle-necks, disdain
pink paper, and insist upon the con-
veyance of champagne in neat wicker
baskets.

The visitor is informed that in look-
ing over the caves of Mme. Pommery he
has traversed no less than twenty-one
acres of cellarage, and is once more
told that every bottle of wine placed on
the table passes through at least three
hundred hands in its manufacture. The
caves of Mme. Pommery at Reims are
always, through the kindness of that
lady, open to the inspection of the pub-
lic.

It may be well at this point to remark
genei'ally upon the likelihood and prom-
ise of this year's vintage in Champagne.
I have seen a bountiful supply of grapes
in the vineyards of Ay, considerable
disease and porriture at Verzenay, and
have heard excellent accounts from
Epernay and elsewhere. As remarked
at the outset, the quantity is good; the
quality is doubtful. If you will follow
my brief description of the manufacture
of champagne, you will see that the re-
sult of the wine harvest of 1876 can not
be accurately determined until the va-
rious cuvees are composed from the
selected juices. But there is one strong
fact which will be likely to influence

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

379

public opinion in judging the commer-
cial result of the vintage. It is this:
The manufacturers of first-class cham-
pagne for the English market are not
buying in any large quantities. In
that splendid year of 1874, they were
at the vineyards begging for more
grapes. It is not so this year. On the
contrary, the growers are begging for
the custom of the manufacturers. The
wine that we like in England can not
be made out of indifferent fruit; and
the year 1876 will not be celebrated for
its dry champagne. — Correspondence
London Telegraph.

OEEGON FLAX FOE FIBEE.

For some time past we have made
mention of the enterprise of Messrs.
Jesse Parrish and Charles Miller, two
well-to-do and energetic farmers living
near Jefferson, numbered among our
best citizens, who have devoted much
time and capital, as well as the use of
a large body of land on their farms,
which are contiguous, to the culture of
flax of the Dutch variety, best calcu-
lated for fibre. We had a call from
Mr. Miller the past week who furnishes
us with valuable items confirming their
success in this important branch of pro-
duction. These gentlemen have raised
two large crops of remarkable excel-
lence, which was established by the
award of a medal at the Centennial to
their product.

"We are glad to learn that they have
disposed of their lint — for they have
manufactured it themselves — at a very
satisfactory price — $300 a ton, which is
fifteen cents per pound, to Mr. Crane,
who has located at San Francisco to en-
gage in the manufacture of twine,
thread, etc. They have to refuse an
offer for ten tons to be shipped to Dun-
dee, Scotland, for the reason that their

stock is all pre-engaged. Their flax
mill is now turning out three hundred
pounds of lint per day, and they feel
every encouragement to continue the
business on a large scale. Mr. Crane,
of San Francisco, pronounces the lint a
first-rate article.

Fifty pounds of their flax was ship-
ped to Dundee, Scotland, through the
agency of Mr. Win. Reid, Portland,
where it was manufactured into linen
and pronounced by the manufacturers
as good as any in the world. The same
company that worked up this sample
and made this report wrote to Mr. Reid
that they would send machinery here to
manufacture linen provided they could
be supplied with sufficient lint to run
the first year. All these facts combine
to show that flax fibre can be made a
leading industry in Oregon and lead to
the establishment of important manu-
facturing interests in this State.

Mr. Miller also informs us that a
company is organizing in New York
State for the purpose of sending an
agent to Oregon to secure the raising
of flax fibre to be sent back East and
supply factories there. Those who are
engaged in manufacturing flax there
think there is no such flax raised any-
where as they have received from Ore-
gon. We have, then, what seems cer-
tain to prove a permanent paying pro-
duct that our farmers can depend upon
for change of crops, and which can be
manufactured into lint here, and will
eventually lead to the establishment of
linen factories in Oregon. The perma-
nence of this production and manufac-
ture can be judged from the history of
flax culture and linen manufacture for
a hundred years past in the north of
Ireland, where great cities and immense
manufactories have grown up, perma-
nently sustained by the successful cul-
tivation of flax in the surrounding coun-

380

THE CALIFOENIA HOETICULTUBIST.

try, which cultivation and manufacture
have been a source and means of lasting
wealth and prosperity. We possess at
least equal facilities for growth and
manufacture and can therefore count on
equally successful results. — Willamette
Farmer.

FEUIT POLLEN.

Among the interesting questions by
no means as yet definitely settled, says
the N. Y. Independent, is that which
refers to the immediate effect of pollen
on fruits. Up to a few years ago it was
thought that there was no immediate
effect, and that the influence was only
seen in the plants produced from the
seed. But in the case of the Indian
Corn it is clearly proved that there is
an influence direct on the seed itself.
It is also thought that there is an influ-
ence on Pumpkins, Squashes, and oth-
er cucurbitaceous plants ; but this is lit-
tle more than an impression derived
from cultivators, and, so far as we
know, there have been no experiments
directly made to test the point. There
have been many curious facts placed on
record that seem to be explicable on no
other theory ; but it is a good rule not
to accept a guess in cases where direct
experiment can be made. In the In-
dian Corn the change immediately ef-'
f ected seems confined to the seed. The
carpellary structure remains the same.
If the cucurbitacse, or other class of
plants of a somewhat similar character,
had their fruits immediately affected, it
would be regarded as more remarkable
than that the naked seed of Corn should
change. Mr. C. W. Garfield, of the
Michigan Agricultural College, deserves
the credit of attempting direct experi-
ments with the Apple, and he believes
there was a direct effect on the fruit.
He made ten crosses, of ten specimens

in each cross. There appears to have
been ninety-seven fruit resulting. Only
three kinds showed any change from
the peculiarities of the female parent.
In one it was the pollen of the Wagen-
er variety on a Tallman Sweet. Un-
fortunately, theTallman Sweet is known
to be variable, independent of cross fer-
tilization, so that this needs to be gone
over again. If a number of trials be-
tween the two always had the same re-
sult, it would be conclusive. Another
was a Tallman Sweet on a Eed Astra-
chan. The distinct character of these
Apples renders the result interesting.
The Apples were mild, color (deep red
in the female, yellow in the male) mod-
ified, and the form flat. There is no
doubt of a great probability here, but
it would be still well to repeat the ex-
periment with the same two kinds an-
other year. The other case in which
change was noted was where the Wag-
ener was the female, and the Tallman
Sweet the male parent. The change
was in respect to flavor and color.
These are among the most interesting
facts we have met with in relation to
this subject. Flavor (that is, in respect
to sour or sweet), form, and color will
vary so, even in the same variety, and
when there is no thought of cross-fer-
tilizing agency, that it would be safe to
ask for a few more experiments before
regarding the matter settled. There
are other points not subject to inherent
variation, that it would be as well to
watch the effect of hybridization on.

Japanese Peksimmon. — A year ago we
mentioned the receipt of a Japanese
Persimmdn, one of the first crop borne
in California. The tree at Santa Bar-
bara has borne again this year, but the
fruit is now larger and different in form.
It has the size and shape of a Fall Pip-
pin, the color of orange vermillion.

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

381

^tutorial portfolio.

OUR FRONTISPIECE.

Australian Blue Gum Tree. — This
variety of the Eucalypti ( Eucalyptus
globulus) is undoubtedly one of the most
valuable and handsome trees which the
munificence of Nature has presented to
the world in the way of ornament as a
shade, and utility in some respects as a
timber tree. In its natural localities
in many instances it attains a height of
from 300 to 400 feet, with a diameter
of 40 feet. There are no less than 38
varieties of this given by botanists, all
evergreens, and more or less valuable
and beautiful in foliage and flowers, the
colors of the latter being either white
or yellow. Nat. ord. Myrtacece, allied
to Metrosideros.

As a forest tree the Blue Guru is un-
surpassed in rapidity of growth, and
will be found useful when planted in
belts, as a hedge, and pruned, allowing
them to branch near the ground. They
may also be planted on low grounds on
river banks as an effectual barrier
against the encroachments of tide wa-
ter in cases of overflov*. We recom-
mend planting this tree largely in all
places that are barren of timber, espe-
cially on this coast, and in all the
Southern States.

As a shade tree the Eucalyptus glob-
ulus requires much attention in judi-
cious pruning, to keep down its natur-
al character for rampant and excessive
growth. For a sparsely wooded region,
where the temperature does not
descend below 25° Fahrenheit, proba-
bly no variety of tree can be grown to
the same size in the same period of
time. The other species of the family,
but little known here generally at pres-
ent, will at no distant day become per-
haps even more popular than the Blue
Gum, whose wood is harder, coarser

grained, and better adapted to the
thousands or uses to which timber is
applied ; and when it becomes known
that this genus has among its members
species whose wood can be converted
into shingles, studding, and weather-
boarding, and that buildings construct-
ed of them will be not only remarkable
for their durability, but possibly nearly
as fire-proof as are iron buildings, then
the value of such species will be better
appreciated by tree-growers.

The medical qualities of the Euca-
lyptus globulus are said to be numer-
ous ; the leaves being used largely in
the manufacture of a medicine which
has been found to cure diseases of the
kidneys, asthma, dyspepsia, and fevers
of various kinds. In places that have
been subject to malaria and fevers, aft-
er planting the Eucalyptus, some per-
sons state that, in a few years the peo-
ple become entirely free from the dis-
eases incident to those localities, and
low, wet places become comparatively
dry and healthful.

For the culture of the Eucalyptus
the seed is usually planted during the
spring and summer months, in shallow
boxes. Fill the boxes nearly full with
fine compost ; near the surface, to the
depth of one inch, the soil should con-
sist of nearly half sand, to prevent
damping; cover the seed one-quarter
of an inch, and water with a fine sprin-
kler as often as the soil becomes quite
dry ; set the boxes in cold frames ; if
no glass is handy make covers of laths
one inch apart, or canvas may be used ;
when the plants make second leaf
transplant in boxes of good soil ; the
plants to stand in rows three or four
inches apart; when they become well
rooted, and about six inches or more
in height, they may be transplanted
with a spade or trowel where they are
to remain. In planting a forest in

382

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

good soil, set them eight feet apart
each way, and cultivate until well es-
tablished.

One of the peculiarities of the E.
globulus is, that when young, the
leaves are broader and different in
shape from those when it becomes more
fully grown; the older leaves being
more narrow and much like the foliage
of the Peach in shape ; and the young
tree presents at the same time two
kinds of differently formed leaves, the
lower tier being very broad, and the
upper narrow.

GOVEENOE STANFOED'S PEIVATE CITY
GAEDEN AND CONSEEVATOEY.

We had the pleasure of viewing these
new grounds and the conservatory a
few days since. They are as yet in
rather an unfinished state, but will be
completed in a short time. There is
nothing of the kind in the city or coun-
try of their size that can equal them,
both in design and number of beautiful
and rare plants and flowers. The green-
house and surroundings are under the
able management and care of Mr. Jas.
T. Murphy, and they do much credit to
his judgment and taste. Many of the
flowers are handsomely planted in
groups — such as Rhododendrons, Aza-
leas, Heaths, etc. Here are to be seen
the very finest and choicest of plants.
Among the numerous kinds of plants,
flowers, shrubs, and evergreens, may be
found dwarf flowering Orange and Ca-
mellias ; near the mansion Araucaria
Bidwillii and excelsa, Kalrnia latifolia,
Eloeagnus aurea variegata, Veronica irn-
perialis and variegata, Juniperus Atzan-
tica, Cedars of . Lebanon, Ficus macro-
phylla, Palms from Colorado, of the
most splendid varieties, and the newest
and choicest Roses (their stems defended

with moss) are planted round the bor-
ders ; among the best are Banksia
arundis and Emperor of Morocco. A
variety of Tree Pseonies, Phygelius ca-
pensis, Aralia japonica and papyrifera
from Japan, Acalypha marginata, with
foliage of a shining bronzy red color,
with a fiery red margin; Adhatoda cy-
donifolia, a shrub with rosy purple
flowers; Buddlea Lindleyana, a hardy
shrub with dark purple flowers; Cen-
tropogon Lucyanus, a shrub with con-
tinually blooming bright red flowers ; a
variety of Wigandias, with a number of
very select plants and flowers too num-
erous to mention. The grass had been
sown only three weeks, but the lawns
were nearly covered with a lovely verd-
ure.

A large and graceful fountain is to be
erected in the centre of one of the grass
plots on the south side of the mansion.
The soil is of the richest, and about
three feet in depth. Along the steep
and long walls of the division fences
beautiful wire -work has been erect-
ed, upon which there are the best and
rarest climbing plants. The beds are
all planted with the finest and most su-
perb flowering plants of all the best
kinds, with dwarf border plants at their
outer edges. The walks are all paved
with black and white chequered marble.
The most elegant vases filled with
plants will be placed at some of the
corners. Statuary is omitted, as it is
always out of place except in extensive
grounds.

The architecture of the conservatory
is graceful and attractively beautiful.
Its future contents will, of course, like
the whole of this splendid mansion and
garden, be the best and most choice gems
that great wealth can possibly purchase.
Altogether, nothing seems to have been
omitted that money and taste can ac-
complish, and although all is new, we

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

383

can well imagine what the magnificent
tout ensemble and total effect will be aft-
er a few years.

VICTORIA REGIA— THE QUEEN OF WA-
TER LILIES.

We are not aware that at present
there is any location in our city and its
neighborhood where this wonderful wa-
ter plant can have sufficient space or
can probably be made to succeed better
than in the large conservatory in the
Exotic Gardens of Miller, Sievers &
Co., where there is already a large
pond or reservoir for water plants, and
where the proprietors may be likely to
be satisfactorily rewarded by a large
growth of flower and leaf. By skillful
culture in many parts of Europe, and
also in this country at Mr. Cope's,
Springbrook, near Philadelphia, suc-
cess has been completely obtained.
There was a great excitement there, as
there will be here when the Yictoria
blooms for the first time, for when that
occurred at Mr. Cope's, his grounds
were reported to be in complete pos-
session of the public.

The committee on plants and flowers
of the Philadelphia Horticultural Soci-
ety were present on the second flower
blooming. They measured the petals,
which they found seven inches in length,
and the crown or disk of the flower
three inches, thus making the diameter
of the whole seventeen inches. This is
three inches larger, it seems, than any
flower produced in England. The leaves
were also six inches larger# than any
grown there. The natural conditions
of California, although in a conserva-
tory, are likely more favorable than
they can be either in England or in the
East. There the water is 85° generally,
out of doors, and the atmosphere at
75°; here it is just the reverse, which

is undoubtedly more like its native
country. The conservatory at the Ex-
otic Gardens we should consider, how-
ever, not too warm for it in our San
Francisco climate. Mr. Cope states
that he was satisfied that he had hit
upon the method of cultivating the
plant, and that both the flower and the
leaves were equal to any found either
in a native or foreign state, in any part
of the world. Although all that was
accomplished at a great expense of
money and personal exertion, he was
richly repaid for his efforts. Even Mr.
Longworth, of Cincinnati, the wealthy
and enthusiastic amateur horticulturist,
when he had proved everything, and
who was inclined to regard what was
new and untried in his favorite pursuit
as humbug, said, in a letter to Mr.
Cope, that "there was but one plant
in the world — the Victoria." He ad-
ded, however, that he would present
Mr. Cope with a fresh milch cow if he
failed to grow the Lily without heat.
By this he meant that he could grow it
in his pond. Mr. Cope's plant was also
grown without fire heat He had no
fire since the 21st of June. The plant
in the kitchen garden, which had no
fire at any time, was very beautiful, and
would have bloomed, he thought, if it
had been planted a month earlier. As
it was, he was not without hope that it
would give him a flower. Mr. Cope
spoke of a flower that bloomed one ev-
ening as more gorgeous than any of its
predecessors. As its change or conver-
sion was going on in its second stage,
it seemed that a pink and red hue great-
ly predominated over the white. He
cut the flower, placed it on a thin circu-
lar board, a foot in diameter, which it
completely covered, and sent it to a
wedding party. Mr. Cope stated that
the Yictoria was one of the few things
that has not been exaggerated ; nor is

384

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

it possible to exaggerate it. It is truly
a wonderful plant.

The Victoria, nat. ord. Nymphceacece,
is a stove herbaceous aquatic, propa-
gated generally by seeds, sown in strong
peat, and planted out in a reservoir of
heated water as soon as germinated.
From the size of the leaves, the tank
must be twenty -five feet in diameter;
and if the water is moved, or is being
constantly furnished with a fresh sup-
ply, the plants will thrive all the bet-
ter. It has been grown in the open air,
not only by Messrs. Cope and Long-
worth, as stated, but by Messrs. Weeks,
near London, England, the water of
which was heated to 80° by hot-water
pipes.

FRUIT CULTIVATION AND REPORT OF
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKET.

BY E. J. HOOPER.

As the season for planting orchards
of all sorts of fruits is close at hand,
and the late copious rains are very fa-
vorable for that object, we herewith
give a list of fruits suitable for the San
Francisco market. The best soil for
general orchards is a deep, rich, calca-
reous one, sufficiently elevated to in-
sure good natural drainage, and, away
from the coast, a northerly aspect pre-
ferred. This description of soil and
aspect, inclining toward the foothills,
or on them, will always, except in ex-
tremely dry seasons, bestow a delicious
juiciness to all fruits so located, and a
dryness prevented, which is so detri-
mental to all enjoyment in their being
eaten in the natural as well as in the
culinary state. Owing to the plentiful,
well distributed, and gentle rains, we
had last winter and spring, all our
fruits this year, especially Apples, have
been uncommonly juicy and palatable.
The iEsopus Spitzenberg has been

prominently fine, owing, we think, to
this cause, and, by the by, this highly-
flavored and most deservedly popular
sort has been remarkably abundant in
our markets.

For a small orchard planted for the
supply of the San Francisco market,
the selection need not be more than
six varieties, three reds and three yel-
lows, in the order here named : Red —
Northern Spy, Baldwin, iEsopus Spitz-
enberg; Yellow — Roxbury Russet, Yel-
low Newtown Pippin, Swaar. These
kinds are all well spoken of generally,
and the writer knows from experience
that there are none more profitable or
more in demand on our stalls. In ad-
dition to these, for their beautiful com-
plexion and coloring, some Blue "Win-
ter Pearmains Romanites, and small,
wax-like Lady Apples, may be added.

For a family orchard, say of 100
trees, 13 Cherries, 20 Plums, 25 Pears,
and 40 Apples may be grown, with 25
Peaches.

Cherries— 2 May Duke, 2 Elton, 2
Early Richmond, 2 Vanskyke, 2 Gov.
"Wood, 2 Black Republican, 2 Black
Morilla.

Plums — 2 Green Gage, 2 Imperial
Gage, 2 Red Damask, 3 Lawrence's
Favorite, 2 Columbia, 2 Jefferson, 2
Washington, 2 Helm's Plum, 4 Peach
Plum.

Pears — 2 Madeline, 2 Catharine, 1
Summer Beauty, 2 Julian, 2 Bartlett, 2
Seckel, 2 Fall Butter, 2 Duchess d'An-
gouleme, 2 Duke dAremburg, 4 Winter
Nelis, 2 Vicar of WTakefield, 1 Easter
Beurre, 1 Pound Pear, for curiosity of
size.

Apples— 2 Early Harvest, 2 Red As-
trachan, 2 Red June, 2 July Rough, 2
Summer Queen, 2 Gravenstein, 2 Ram-
bo, 2 Waxen or Gate Apple, 2 Fall
Pippin, 2 Rhode Island Greening, 3
Golden Russet, 2 Baldwin, 2 Northern

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

385

Spy, 2 Spitzenberg, 3 Roxbury Russet,
3 Yellow Newtown Pippin, 1 White
Bellflower, 1 Yellow Bellflower, 1 Small
Red Roraanite.

Every farmer and villa resident, be-
sides the above, if he has enough space,
should have a good selection of Grapes

and small fruits.
«

Speaking of the foot-hill country, we
may now safely state that there is hard-
ly a fruit or tree capable of successful
culture in any other portion of our
State, but can be grown there equally
as well, and in juiciness and other val-
uable qualities equally as well as in lo-
calities generally considered their habi-
tat. And we will here present an ex-
tract from a letter of a correspondent
on this subject, which in the remarks
made is a very sensible one, and which
fully bears out our opinion in this re-
spect :

"The Orange, the Lime, and the
Lemon mature, and the Fig finds here
a genial home, while the more hardy
Cherry, Apple, and Plum attain in this
region the greatest perfection with the
least possible care. It is the land of
the Grape, the soil and climate surpass-
ing those of Italy and France in the
adaptation to the growth of the vine.
And yet, with all these natural advan-
tages, fruit-growing has not proved
profitable here. In the first place, the
varieties planted have been mostly of
the ordinary or inferior kinds, unfit for
curing, and which will not, when green,
pay cost of transportation to San Fran-
cisco, the only place where large quan-
tities of even good fruit can be dispos-
ed of. Then, our people are deficient
in those habits of care and attention re-
quisite to the profitable prosecution of
these and similar small industries.
They are not content to realize trifling
gains from a variety of sources, such as
producing butter, cheese, eggs, honey,

wool, etc.; the raising of pigs, poultry,
and lambs, the sale of vegetables, dried
and green fruit, and the like, affording
healthful and remunerative employ-
ment to the women and children of the
household, as is the case among the
farmers and producing classes in the
Eastern States, and more especially in
European countries. They are wanting
in good husbandry and good housewif-
ery— are too little disposed to earn or
to save in a small way, constituting
what the more frugal and thrifty Yan-
kee denominates a shiftless population.
"When for these habits there shall be
substituted those of greater industry
and economy, the inhabitants of our
rural districts will become prosperous,
wealthy, and contented, and hard times
among them will be known no more."

The first rain we had this fall consid-
erably injured the Grapes, and destroy-
ed large quantities of Raisins. About
the second week in last month (Novem-
ber) Peaches and Strawberries were yet
in the market, and some few Plums.
Apples were plentiful, very good, and
cheap. A car-load of Lemons, Nuts,
etc., arrived from New York. Grapes,
notwithstanding injury from the early
rains, still made a grand exhibition of
this noble fruit, for the many splendid
varieties of which California is so de-
servedly famed and notorious.

The prices of Grapes about the 25th
of last month (November) became some-
what higher, but they are yet sufficient-
ly abundant, and the prices rather mod-
erate. The different varieties retailed
as follows: Mission, 5c. to 6c; Black
Hamburg, Rose of Peru, and Black
Malvoise, 6c. to 8c. ; Muscat of Alexan-
dria, 8c. to 10c; White and Flame To-
kay, 8c. to 10c; Black Morocco, 10c
to 12JC. ; Purple Damascus and Olivita,
15c per lb. A few Strawberries, Rasp-
berries, Plums, and Peaches were still

386

THE CALIFOENIA HORTICULTURIST.

coming in. There was no change to
be noted in vegetables. Potatoes were
very plentiful at $1.25 to $1.50 per 100
lbs., by the single sack, delivered.
"Watermelons and Cantaleups were fi-
nally out of the market. New Potatoes
were 8c. per lb. Apples arrived in
large quantities about the third week
in last month, and could be sold only
at low rates. They have been more
plentiful this year than was ever before
known, and as that fruit on the trees,
however overloaded, hardly ever receives
any thinning, the bulk of the Apples
are undersized this season, and can
hardly be sold at all. The following
are current rates: Apples, choice, 75c.
to $1 per box; common, 35c. to 50c.
Quinces, 65c. to 75c. per box. Eastern
Cranberries, $13.50 to $15 per barrel.
Pears— Winter Nelis, $1 to $1.25 per
box; cooking, 50c. to 75c. Strawber-
ries, $12 per chest. Figs, 4c. to 5c.
per lb. Oranges— Tahiti, $30 to $35
per M; Mexican, $25 to $30 per M.
Lemons — Malaga, $10 to $11 per box.
Bananas, $1.50 to $4 per bunch. Co-
coanuts, $5 to $6 per 100. Dried Fruit
— Apples, 5c. to 6|c. per lb.; Peaches,
8c. to 8^c; peeled, 20c; Pears, 8c. to
10c. per lb.; Plums, 3c. to 6c; pitted
do, 12Jc. to 13c; Prunes, 12fc to 17c;
Apricots, 10c to 12^c per lb.; Figs,
white, 12Jc to 15c; black, 5c to 6c;
California Raisins, $1.25 to $2.75 per
box. The California Oranges are good,
quite large, sweet, and full of juice.

At the beginning- of this month (De-
cember) the supply of summer vegeta-
bles became much diminished. Egg
Plant, Peppers, and Green Corn, ceas-
ed to make their appearance, and Green
Peas and String Beans became scarce
and higher in price. Tomatoes and
Cucumbers were still plentiful, but of
inferior quality. The market was over-
stocked with common and inferior Po-

tatoes, and prices were very low, but
good and choice from Nevada and oth-
er good localities were maintained at
$1.25 to $1.50 per 100 lbs., by the sin-
gle sack, delivered.

A few Strawberries, Raspberries, and
Plums were still coming in, and met
with a fair demand. What will our
Eastern brethren think of this for the
month of December? Of course the
Strawberries, although assisted by the
plentiful rain which fell about six weeks
ago, were previously sustained by irri-
gation. This is the fourth or fifth
crop. Apples, Pears, and Quinces
continued plentiful. Grapes were also
abundant, but the quality of most kinds
was rapidly deteriorating^ The follow-
ing varieties were to be had at the pri-
ces annexed: Mission, 5c to 6c; Black
Hamburg, Rose of Peru, 6c to 8c;
Muscat of Alexandria, 8c to 10c;
Black Morocco, 10c to 12|c; Flame
Tokay, 8c to 10c; Purple Damascus,
15c per lb. We quote the following
from that capital authority, the Com-
mercial Herald :

" The steamers Montana and Colima
brought 3,674 boxes Mexican fruit,
consisting of 350,000 Oranges and up-
ward of 400 boxes Limes. There are
two cargoes of Tahiti Oranges now dis-
charging, which, together with those
from Mexican ports, will supply the
demand until the new crop of Los An-
geles Oranges make their appearance.
Los Angeles Limes have completely
overstocked the market, selling at $3
to $5 per M, while the Mexican variety
are preferred at $9 to $10 per M ; owing
to their larger size and being always
clean, they have the preference with
buyers. Apples are coming in freely ;
inferior lots are dull at quotations.
Pears of the Winter Nelis variety are
in demand. Grapes, unless first-class,
are extremely dull and low."

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

387

WORK FOE THE MONTH.

We have had one early and plentiful
rain, but as several weeks have elapsed
since it fell, the interior counties are
now in want of more to keep the young-
grasses growing, as well as for the pur-
pose of plowing. We may now, how-
ever, at any time expect our generally
regular installment of rain, and it is
most important that the usual rainy
season should not take us horticultur-
ists, as well as agriculturists, by sur-
prise.

While little can be done in our or-
chards beyond the completion of the
gathering and storing of fruits in this
month, ornamental trees and shrubs
and flowering plants should receive con-
siderable attention. We should advise
at the present time to entirely dispense
with the irrigation of plants, trees, and
lawns; at any rate, in our coast coun-
ties and in our city. The young growth
should have time to harden. Proper
pruning should be done in all cases as
early as possible. In this climate trees
and shrubs are apt to make enormous
growth, and will expand in one season
out of all shape and beyond our control
unless we use the knife freely and ade-
quately to their needs. Evergreens in
particular should be balanced, the su-
perfluous growth cut away, and the trees
supported by proper stakes, so as to
enable them to withstand our strong
winds. In most cases, trees are plant-
ed too thickly and without a due refer-
ence to future growth and development.
This is erroneous, except where planted
for grouping, which should only be ef-
fected on the large and extensive parks
of country residences. Whenever it is
apparent that trees stand in too close
proximity to each other, one should be
removed ; and where flowering plants
are overshadowed by trees, it is inevita-

ble that one must give way to the other.
In some cases, this action can be modi-
fied by the removal or cutting back of
some of the branches, so as to admit a
free circulation of air and exposure to
the rays of the sun at least for a few
hours during the day ; but it more fre-
quently occurs that we can not suggest
any other remedy than the removal of
the trees or the abandonment of the
flowering plants in their vicinity. We
have, as a rule, too many trees in our
gardens, and when we take into consid-
eration how rapidly and effectually they
exhaust the soil, it can not surprise any
one that the smaller plants suffer se-
verely for want of nourishment. We
often observe a great dislike in propri-
etors of gardens to take out a choice,
perhaps rare and beautiful, shrub or
tree ; but it is sometimes quite necessa-
ry to do so to remedy a density of shade
and for the benefit of the smaller plants,
as well as for the beauty and general
effect of the whole grounds, especially
if it be only a small city lot or a con-
fined space in the suburbs.

Pansies, which have been sown in
September and October, may now be
planted out where they are desired ; the
soil for them should be particularly en-
riched and well prepared. Our winter
season, at least rather late, is the time
for Pansies, Violets, Primulas, Daisies,
Aubrietias, and all other hardy border
plants, and they will do better if they
are transplanted at this time.

This month is a favorable time to
plant Rose cuttings, both in frames and
in the open ground. If planted in
frames, a moderate bottom heat should
be provided ; if planted in the open
ground, the cuttings ought to be at
least four inches long and of strong,
healthy wood. Prepare the ground
well and deeply before planting, and if
too heavy add some sand. Some of our

388

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

deciduous shrubs grow well from cut-
tings made in the same way, and the
wood is now in a proper condition for
that purpose. There is no necessity
for planting the cuttings immediately
if not convenient ; they may be tied up
and kept in a shady place and partly
covered up with soil. Some Tea and
Bengal Roses, which make very little
wood in comparison with the more ro-
bust growing Perpetuals and Bourbons,
would be better grown in frames, as
short cuttings of three or four eyes only
are required under this method.

The plants in the greenhouse and
conservatory must now be kept rather
dry, as all the soft-wood and succulent
varieties are apt to dump off during our
cool nights, particularly in wet weather.
Tender plants in our greenhouses and
conservatories suffer not so much from
the effect of cold as from dampness,
and to have the Begonia, Coleus, Ma-
ranta, and other tender ornamental foli-
age plants do well during our winter
months, some artificial heat should be
provided. The various kinds of appa-
ratus for heating in use in the Eastern
States and in Europe are too expensive
for us. We require a mode which will
give a moderate amount of warmth
during the nights and the cold rainy
days, which will disperse and rarify
some of the moisture which penetrates
our greenhouses and does so much mis-
chief. The thermometer rarely falls
below 45 or 50, and we think that with
a very simple heating apparatus we may
be able to keep above 55. At some of
our nurseries there have been intro-
duced simple and cheap apparatus that
answer the purpose well.

Unless bottom heat (which can be
made of fresh manure and tan-bark)
propagating at this time can not be
safely undertaken, and at the same time
it is a well established fact that green-

house plants in general should be prop-
agated in October, November, and De-
cember. In fact, those three months
answer very well for the propagation of
hardy plants also. Artificial heat is
therefore most desirable for such work.
The want of flowers is particularly felt
during our winter months, and with a
small degree of warmth our plants in
the greenhouses and conservatories may
be kept in full bloom throughout the
winter. Under all circumstances the
houses should be well ventilated when
the weather permits it.

Unless plants can be kept in a grow-
ing condition by artificial heat, they will
do much better in small pots. We
would therefore caution all against the
over-potting of plants. Tender foliage
plants can be kept in a remarkably good
condition in the winter in three-inch
pots, while those in large pots seem to
suffer most. The necessity for thor-
ough drainage at the bottom of the
pots and boxes is imperative, arid must
be looked after at once. A good effect
is also produced by the application of
warm water whenever the plants actu-
ally need moisture.

Fruit for Food. — If a child's diges-
tion becomes impaired and the gastric
juice becomes weakened or defective in
quantity by overheating or bad food,
the whole alimentary canal becomes
clogged and filthy, and furnishes nests
for such worms as will breed there. In
this weak condition of the system they
can not be destroyed by the process of
digestion, and hence great harm comes
from them. Now, it is an interesting
fact that fresh, ripe fruit is the best
preventive for this state of things. Dr.
Benjamin Rush pointed this out a hun-
dred years ago. He made a series of

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

389

experiments on earth worms, which he
regarded as more nearly allied to those
that infest the bowels of children than
any other, with a view to test their pow-
er of retaining life under the influences
of various substances that might be
used as worm medicines. The results
proved that worms often lived longer
in those substances known as poison-
ous than in some of the most harmless
articles of food. For instance, in a
watery solution of opium they live elev-
en minutes; in infusion of pink root,
thirty- three minutes; in claret wine,
ten minutes; but in the juice of red
cherries they died in six minutes; black
cherries, in five minutes; red currants,
in three minutes; gooseberries, in four
minutes; whortleberries, in seven min-
utes, and raspberries, in five minutes.
From these experiments Dr. Rush ar-
gued that fresh, ripe fruits, of which
children are very fond, are the most
speedy and effectual poison for worms.
In practice this theory has proved cor-
rect.

Fruit for Europe. — Orders have been
received in this city for several tons of
Alden fruit, mostly Apples and Apri-
cots, to be sent to London and Ham-
burg. Samples sent last year to sever-
al points in Europe were received with
great favor, and assurances are given
that a large demand will follow as soon
as the goods are advertised and known
in the foreign markets. The Alden
Apples will cost $270 per ton in Liver-
pool, including §15 freight, leaving
about 13 cents a pound as the price re-
ceived here by the exporter. Each
pound of the Alden Apples represents
eight pounds of the fresh Apples, large
quantities of which, shipped from New
York, are sold in England at §60 per
ton, though often bruised and begin-
ning to decay. The Alden Apple is

better for cooking purposes as well as
more convenient, and much cheaper.
The price leaves a fair profit to the or-
chards and drying-houses, though there
is less profit on the Apple than on many
other fruits for California which has al-
most a monopoly in our continent of
the more delicate and more costly, and
not less prolific Prune, Plum, Apricot,
Fig, Grape, and Zante Currant. There
is no European dried Prune or Zante
Currant equal in elegance of appear-
ance, none superior in delicacy of flavor
to those prepared by the Alden drying-
houses in this State, and these merits
will, at no distant time, be recognized
in every market where wealth is the
servant of luxury.

Coverings eor "Wounds oe Trees. — It
often happens that, either by intention,
as in pruning, or by accident, trees are
wounded in various ways. A common
practice is to cover large wounds with
coal tar; but this is objected to by
some as injurious to the tree. Experi-
ments made in the orchards and gar-
dens of the Pomological Institute, at
Ruthlengen, in Germany, go to show,
however, that its use in covering large
wounds is not injurious, but that, on
the contrary, a callus readily forms un-
der the tar, on the edges of the wound,
and that the wounded part is thus pro-
tected from decay. There is, neverthe-
less, another objection ; if the tar is
applied a little too thick the sun melts
it and it runs down on the bark of the
tree. This can be obviated by mixing
and stirring, and thus incorporating
with the tar, about three or four time^
its weight of powdered slate — known
as slate flour — the mixture being known
as plastic slate and used for roofing
purposes. It is easily applied with an
old knife or flat stick, and, though it
hardens on the 'surface, it remains soft

390

THE CALIFORNIA HOKTICULTTTRIST.

undemeatli. The heat of the sun does
not melt it, nor does the coldest winter
weather cause it to crack, neither does
it peel off. The same mixture is also
useful for other purposes in the garden.
Leaky water-pots, barrels, pails, shut-
ters, shades, etc., can be easily repair-
ed with it, and much annoyance and
loss of time be thus avoided. It will
stick to any surface, provided it be not
oily; and as it does not harden when
kept in a mass, it is always ready for
use.

Don't Crowd Your Trees. — Few per-
sons escape making the great mistake
of planting trees too close together.
This is especially observable in a ma-
jority of cases where trees are planted
in groups upon lawns. "While the trees
are small they look too scattering, there-
fore few persons can withstand the
temptation of crowding them on ac-
count of the improved appearance at
the time of planting, forgetting that in
a few years a portion must be removed
(which is seldom, if ever, done), or all
will be ruined. Evergreens in particu-
lar are, as a rule, planted too close, and
the deformed specimens, in conse-
quence, to be seen in both public and
private grounds in all parts of the coun-
try show the folly of this almost uni-
versal practice. We seldom go a mile
from home without seeing failures in
the cultivation of evergreens, which are
traceable to this one mistake of crowd-
ing. The trees are planted when only
three or four feet high, and half as
broad; but a half-dozen years makes a
wonderful change in size and appear-
ance, and unless planted ten to twenty
or more feet apart, their branches be-
come interlaced, and the symmetrical
beauty of each crowded specimen is de-
stroyed. Give room, or plant a less
number, is a safe system' to follow.

The Fuchsia. — We have seen some
magnificent Fuchsia trees in this State.
We have seen them heading high, and
assuming the upright form of true tree-
hood, and we have seen them climbing
walls, covering the sides of low houses
with their beautiful pendants. We
have seen Fuchsias which we thought
large and worth a boast until we read
in a recent number of the London Gar-
den an account which the Knight of
Kerry writes from Valencia, Ireland,
concerning a Fuchsia which he has :
" I believe that at this moment it is
one of the finest sights in the shrub
way that can be seen. It measures just
148 feet 3 inches round the extreme
tips of its branches, and would have
been considerably larger had it not
been stopped at one side to form into
an arch to cross over a walk. The
south side of it is one blaze of most
beautiful blossoms, a condition in which
it has been for some time. It is now
exactly twenty -two years since it was
planted, and during that time nothing
whatever has been done to further its
growth. It has simply been left to it-
self." This surpasses anything in the
Fuchsia line which has ever come un-
der our observation, and yet there are
wonders yet unheard of in this State.
Can any reader beat the Irish Fuchsia
described above?

A Wonderful Tree. — About two
miles from the city of. Mexico, at a lit-
tle place called La Cuba, is the old tree
known in history as Noche Triste, un-
der the branches of whieh, tradition
has it, Cortes gathered together his lit-
tle remnant of men on the sad night he
was attacked by the Aztecs, and driven
from the city. It is at least a remarka-
ble old tree, and worth the ride to see
for itself. It is a Cypress, of a variety
that grows to an immense size in tfcis

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

391

part of Mexico. It is more than a
thousand years old, and about ten feet
through at the base, and is gnarled and
twisted in a wonderful way. It enlarg-
es above, so at ten feet from the earth
it is fourteen feet in diameter. At
twenty feet it divides into two immense
trunks. Fire was put to it a few years
since, and the inner portion and large
upper trunk mostly burned away.
Probably the trunk and shell will live
for agep. Three years ago the Mexican
Government put a handsome stone and
iron fence arouud it, so that no vandal
hand can touch it. Perhaps no object
about the city has for the reader of
Prescott a greater charm than the old
tree of Noche Triste.

Can Geese be Poisoned ? — Wild geese
are flocking to our plains and fields in
countless numbers. There is not only
excellent sport in shooting them, but
they are also very palatable food. A
fat young goose, well prepared for the
table, is a luxury hard to be surpassed.
Within the past three or four years,
however, the question is being mooted
whether it is altogether safe in eating
them. It is known that at this season
of the year it is very common, in fact,
almost a general rule, for our farmers
to put out large quantities of either
strychnine and phosphorus, with the
view of killing ground squirrels. In
fact, there is a law compelling the de-
struction of squirrels. Their death is
usually sought through the medium of
poisoned wheat. Some contend that
"wild geese, in feeding upon grain fields
are liable to get a portion of the grain
prepared for the squirrels, and thus in
turn poison -people who feed upon the
geese. Others assert, with a great show
of argument on their side, that geese
can not thus be poisoned. If so, more
dead ones could be found on the fields

and about the lakes ; that for years the
geese have been feeding in the same
localities, yet no one ever was known
to have found a poisoned goose, or a
person who was made sick by eating
them. We suggest that the question
be submitted to some medical authori-
ty.— Stanislaus News.

Antiquity of the Touato. — Science
Gossip, an English journal, in relation
to the time which has elapsed since the
Tomato was cultivated in gardens,
states that Galen, who lived in the sec-
ond century, used the nam'e Lycopersi-
cum, now applied to the Tomato, but
it is not known to what plant he al-
ludes. But an Italian writer, in 1561,
thinks Galen meant the Tomato. Do-
doens, a Dutch botanist, describes it as
grown in his time (in 1583), and as eat-
en dressed with pepper, vinegar, and
oil. Gerard mentions it in his " Her-
bal " in 1597, and calls it Pomum am-
oris, and describes red and yellow fruit-
ed sorts. Parkinson, in 1656, says it
is cultivated only for curiosity, and
" for the amorous aspect or beauty of
the fruit." A century afterwards Mil-
ler states it was used in soups. Com-
ing down later, we remember its exten-
sive use on the table, cooked and un-
cooked about the year 1825. To this
we may add that only since thirty years
has the Tomato been well known for
its edible qualities in the United States,
and only since twenty years has this
valuable esculent come into general use
and been appreciated as it deserves.

Plants Piercing Asphalt. — The fol-
lowing curious example of the lifting
and forcing power exerted by plants in
their growth, is taken from the London
Garden: "About four or five years
ago the platforms at our station here
(Mitcham Junction) were laid with a

392

THE CALIFORNIA HORTICULTURIST.

thick coating of asphalt. Neverthe-
less, such is the force of growth and
endurance existing in the roots of the
Coltsfoot (Tussillago far far a) that every
year it forces its way through the as-
phalt, despite the hardness of that ma-
terial. The asphalt is pushed up into
little hillocks, which gradually crack ;
very soon the young leaves make their
appearance, and afterward the whole
plant. The common Thistle I have
also noticed doing the same. Let any
one take a cake of asphalt and try to
push a stick through it; he will then
be able to realize how great must be
the vital force exerted by the plant
roots in question, which, by adding
particle after particle to their structure,
are enabled to upheave and displace
such a hard, compact material as as-
phalt."

The Lilt or the Mines. — The Amer-
ican Naturalist notes the discovery, in
an abandoned drift in a mine in Neva-
da, of a remarkable fungus. It was
growing from a beam 400 feet below
the surface of the earth, and was three
feet four inches in length, and of a light
buff color. It " consisted mainly of a
three-parted stem, two or three inches
in diameter, attached by means of a
disk eight or ten inches wide." The
stem was "divided into short branches,
greatly resembling in shape and ar-
rangement the young antlers of a stag,
the three terminal ones being much the
most vigorous and conspicuous, form-
ing a perfect trident." The plant is
called by the miners the "Lily of the
Mines," and has been named by the
naturalist first describing it, Agaricus
tridens.

How to Keep Bouquets. — There are
various receipts for keeping bouquets
fresh. Some people stick them in moist

sand ; some salt the water in the vases,
and others warm it ; others, again, use
a few drops of ammonia. My rule is,
to cool the flowers thoroughly at night.
When the long day of furnace- heat has
made the Roses droop, and their stems
limp and lifeless, I clip them a little,
and set them to float in a marble basin
full of very cold water. In the morn-
ing they come out made over into crisp
beauty, as fresh and blooming as if just
gathered. All flowers, however, will
not stand this water-cure. Heliotrope
blackens and falls to pieces under it ;
Azaleas drop from their stems, and
Mignonette soaks away its fragrance.
For these I use dry, cold air. I wrap
them in cotton wool, and set them on a
shelf in the ice-chest. I can almost
hear you laugh, but really I am not
joking. Flowers thus treatecfkeep per7
fectly for a week with me, and often
longer. — St. Nicholas.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORD,
Fob the Month ending Notembek 30, 1876.
(Prepared for The Horticulturist by Thos. Tennent,
Mathematical Instrument and Chronometer-maker, No.
18 Market Street.)

BAEOMETEE.

Mean height at 9 a. m 30.17 in.

do 12 m 30.17

do 3p.m 30.16

do 6 P. M 30.15

Highest point on the 25tti at 12 m ;. 30.33

Lowest point on the 3d at 6 p. m 29.96

THEEMOMETEE.
( With, north exposure and free from, reflected heat.)

Meafti height at 9 a. m 57°

do 12 m 62^

do 3 P. m 62°

do 6 P. M 56°

Highest point on the 6th at 3 p. m 69c

Lowest point on the 28th at 6 p. m 52°

SELF - EEGISTEEING THEEMOMETEE.

Mean height during the night 45°

Highest point at sunrise on the 18th 50°

Lp west point at sunrise on the 29th 40°

WINDS.
Nortb-and north-west on 12 days; south and south-east
on 10 days; west on 8 days.

WEATHEE.

Clear all day 10 days; cloudy all day i days; variable
on 16 days; rain on 3 days.

BAIN GAUGE. Inches.

4th 0.06

16th 0.02

17th • 0.15

Total 0.23

Previously reported 2.9S

Total up to date 3.21

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